In September 2019, the Urban Data Lab (UDL) was formed through a Campus as Living Lab grant to advance the data access, data management and data analytics capabilities on campus with the goal of addressing campus-wide sustainability challenges. The objective of UDL is to
- Provide open access of UBC sustainability data to researchers, policymakers and operational staff;
- Support the monitoring and measurement of sustainability performance for buildings, transportation, and natural assets specifically as they relate to the policy commitments of UBC Sustainability Initiative (USI) and Campus and Community Planning (C&CP).
The UDL Team includes:
Committee Chair: James Tansey, Ph.D. UBC professor with research interests in environment, sustainability, social determinants of health, carbon offsets, climate change and social entrepreneurship. James teaches in the Sauder MBA, EMBA and Executive Education programs including leadership training. James is responsible for coordinating sustainability and ethics across the business school courses.
Project Lead: Mike Kennedy, Ph.D. in Business Information Systems from Washington State University. Mike is an industry leader in data and software applications for environmental sustainability. Mike has led decision-makers-and small-scale public and private sector software and IT initiatives for the past 10 years.
Research Assistant: Mohammad Pourmeydani, Master of Science in Transportation Systems from the Technical University of Munich. Mohammad is a Transportation Planner and Modeller with progressive experience in the public and private sector. He has exceptional Transportation Demand Management skills at different levels of local and government scale.
Postdoctoral Researcher: Angela Rout, Ph.D. in Computational Media Design from the University of Calgary. Angela is an expert in using data from mobile devices like smartphones to design better cities. Angela has a background in Architecture, Urban Design and Public Engagement. Her research, using data modeling and visualizations, explores how new technologies can help the public connect with nature and support resilient urban deigns.
Co-Op Student: Ivan Fediaev is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science at the University of British Columbia. He is a co-op student at the Urban Data Lab working with researchers to better understand their data. He is interested in how information can be extracted from large datasets to be visualized so that we can learn valuable insights about the world around us.
Postdoctoral Researcher: Ibrahim El-chami, Ph.D. in sensors fabrication and integration in IoT systems and AI systems, as a part of smart energy systems, Simon Fraser University and KU Leuven/imec/EnergyVille respectively. Ibrahim is a technical advisor to 2 agritech-fintech startups in Vancouver and Toronto as well as provides technical advice to Canadian, Malaysian, Belgian, Albanian, and Dutch-based data analytics companies working on integrating aspects of their systems into smart city infrastructure, including solar crypto farms and solar agritech. Ibrahim also works with NGOs in Brussels and Montreal to develop EDI programs aimed towards providing the necessary academic and technical tools to underrepresented groups, including youth from disproportionate socioeconomic backgrounds. He’s also currently a member of a number of sustainability-led community groups, and is starting to become more involved in related policy regulation and recommendations.
