Mathchallenges – John Morgan

All quiet here as the Canadian Mathchallengers Society roles out the 2026  BC competition.as always we need volunteers contactThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Regional competitions are at SFU, Camousun University, Okanagan College Kelowna and University of the Fraser Valley Abbotsford, from February 18 to 21. In classroom competitions for students and school teams that can't get to a competition or out of province of BC loations start after February 25.The provincial finals are May 2 at UBC.

Joint Symposium, BioMass Cluster Canada BMC and Bioindustrial Innovation Canada BIC Symposium

A joint symposium was held in Ottawa November 26-28, 2025. The conference was titled Green Gold: Biomass and Bioproducts to Fuel the Sustainable Bioeconomy. The cohosts were BioFuelNet’s BioMass Canada (BMC) and Bioindustrial Innovation Canada (BIC). The objective was to facilitate knowledge exchange on current biomass and bioproduct research, strengthen collaboration between researchers, industry partners, and policymakers. With active participation of  Agriculture & Agri-Food Canada, the symposium  identified gaps, opportunities, and next steps for research to advance circular economy.

The doctoral candidate Omid Gholami Banadkoki UBC Chemical & Biological Engineering defended his dissertation titled “Pelletization and Thermochemical Characterization of Vegetable Crops Foliage” December 15, 2025. This research investigates the valorization potential of residues from tomato, eggplant, cucumber, summer squash, soybean, and corn, as non-woody lignocellulosic residues for bioenergy applications.

Kanageswari Singara Vello doctorat thesis

In August Kanageswari (Kanages) Singara Vello of the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering successfully defended her doctoral thesis “Minimal thermal treatment of cellulosic biomass to produce torrefied pellets".

Kanages demonstrated that overall mild torrefaction temperature (around 250oC) and shorter retention time (15 minutes) preserved wood polymers and made pellets hydrophobic ready for transport and storage. This presents an opportunity to produce durable, binder-free pellets with improved moisture resistance compared to untreated pellets. Currently Kanagges is in Malaysia spending time with family and having a well reserved rest.

2025 Annual International Meeting of the ASABE in Toronto

Shahab Sokhansanj, P.Eng. of UBC attended the Annual International Meeting of the ASABE in Toronto (July 13-16). During the meeting Shahab made an oral presentation titled” Circular Bio Economy Canada Report”. Shahab mentioned that Agricultures contribution to Greenhouse Gas emissions in Canada is 10% compared to oil and gas at 26% transportation sector at 25%. However agriculture has tough time to make any substantial contribution to reduction in green house emissions in Canada when compared t the contributions from buildings and transportation.