The Jagdeep Singh Bakshi Scholarship in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering has been awarded to Master of Engineering student Alice Brais. This scholarship provides $1000 to a student in the UBC’s Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering MEng program who demonstrates both academic excellence and leadership. Joining the UBC NAME program after an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering from McGill, Brais achieved high scores despite a year challenged by fully online studies. She led her team in their Computer-Aided Ship Design Project course, completing a ship design for a zero-emission ferry incorporating hydrogen fuel cells and hydrofoils.
Brais continued her work on sustainable energy in the marine industry during her summer work term, with a project looking at the feasibility of fuel cell power for commercial workboats and tugs at Vancouver naval architecture consulting firm Robert Allan Ltd. Due to international maritime industry targets on greenhouse gas emissions, the company is looking at ways of incorporating fuel cell technology into ship design. This technology reduces emissions by powering ship systems with electricity, generated by combining hydrogen and air to create an electrochemical reaction. Brais found that current hydrogen storage methods require too much space on board to make it an efficient energy source for workboats. However, the development of fuel cells using other chemical fuel sources such as methanol or natural gas, which are more energy dense, may make this technology a more viable solution for reducing emissions from commercial workboats in the future.
The Jagdeep Singh Bakshi Scholarship was created to commemorate the contributions of the late maritime industry leader Jagdeep Singh Bakshi, whose international marine engineering career spanned over four decades. He was dedicated to advancing the marine industry by supporting the next generation of naval architects and marine engineers. Contributions to the scholarship can be made in his memory at https://give.ubc.ca/memorial/jagdeep-bakshi/.
Congratulations to Ms. Brais, on behalf of the NAME program and the Department of Mechanical Engineering!