This event is cohosted by Engineers and Geoscientists BC’s Okanagan Branch and UBC Okanagan and is being held to coincide with National Engineering and Geoscience Month.
Thank you to FortisBC for their generous sponsorship of this event.
A smartphone-based app will be used to gather questions from the audience and directed to the panelists.
Please note that this event will purposely avoid discussion on perceived practicalities and politics that might be associated with this topic.
Jason is a Key Account Manager at BC Hydro, with a specific focus on assisting customers with fleet electrification. Jason’s role is new to BC Hydro, designed to support the province’s CleanBC Transportation goals. In his role, Jason will be focusing on existing BC Hydro key account customers as well as other larger fleet organizations to assist with their fleet electrification strategies. Jason is a professional engineer and project manager, with a background in energy management, technical procurement, and automotive engineering and manufacturing.
Walter grew up in Guatemala, attended high school in Italy, and obtained his PhD at the University of Victoria in Canada. He began his career collaborating with Ballard Power Systems, British Gas Investments Canada and universities in 1996. He worked at the National Research Council’s Institute for Fuel Cell Innovation, and at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy Systems in Germany. He was a founder and Board member for General Hydrogen Corporation, and the Institute for Breakthrough Energy Technologies.
At UBC, Walter’s research focuses on integrated energy systems, hydrogen and fuel cell technologies. He leads the Natural Gas Futures consortium, and the Transportation Futures Group at the Pacific Institute for Climate Solutions. Walter is the former director for the Clean Energy Research Centre, and the Master of Engineering Leadership Program in Clean Energy. Currently, he is the Associate Dean of Research and Industrial Partnerships in the Faculty of Applied Science, and a Senior Advisor to the President and ViceChancellor.
Walter serves on the Board of Directors for the Canadian Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Association, the Academic Council for the Global Alliance on Powerfuels, and the Climate Change Advisory Board for Toronto Dominion Insurance.
Dr. Mina Hoorfar is a Professor and Director of School of Engineering. She has trained more than 80 HQP, published more than 200 scientific papers, and 2 patents. She has been collaborating with world-known companies in the areas of electrochemistry (fuel cells), computational modeling, and fabrication of microstructures and biosensors that enable low detection limits required for environmental and agricultural applications.
Tyson is an alternative fuel professional with 11 years’ experience decarbonizing commercial fleets across Canada and the US. In his current role at FortisBC, Tyson is responsible for CNG & LNG infrastructure and incentivizing customers to purchase new equipment using traditional or renewable natural gas AKA bio-methane from sustainable sources. Tyson also holds the Guinness World Record for "Longest Journey Traveled Using Alternative Fuel" at 48,535 km.
