As our spotlight on Capstone 2022 continues, we’re delighted to highlight Team 24. Team members include Grace Thompson, Melina Papadakis, Lauren Valliere, and Cameron Douglas. Their project was titled Musqueam Fleet Electrification.
The intention behind this project was to assess the environmental and health benefits of converting the community’s existing combustion vehicles to electrical vehicles. Another environmental benefit of this project was designing an on-site energy harvesting system. Teammate Lauren Valliere describes the inspiration behind working with a First Nation community,
Working with the First Nation allowed us to gain such great insight into how the community values the environment and why they are so dedicated to protecting it.
Future-facing solutions
In this exciting future-facing project, the team partnered with Musqueam First Nation to design and implement a plan to electrify their vehicle fleet. The team explored “green” engine types to determine if hybrid, plug-in hybrid, battery, or fuel cell would be most appropriate and efficient for the fleet. Melina Papadakis enjoyed the practical applications of the project,
The best part of the project so far has been identifying the concrete emissions that will be eliminated with the replacement of the vehicles. A lot of projects are theoretical and hard to picture in motion, but this allows us to see the impacts of our research.
The challenge
The biggest challenge that the team faced was designing a system that aligned with the priorities of the Musqueam community. Building trust and open communication were essential when defining and addressing the needs of the community. This process took longer than expected and was a key part of the planning process. According to Grace Thompson,
My favorite part of this project was getting to work with Dr. Ehsan Haghi and the Musqueam First Nation community. It was a challenge to align our expectations for the project with Musqueam priorities. However, knowing that our work was going to positively impact the members of the community made everything worth it.
Energy creation
An advantageous component of this project was the design of an installation plan for the charging infrastructure and the creation of a solar panel array. The inclusion of these aspects of the plan allows the community to satisfy their own energy needs for their fleet, it also allows for the creation of a surplus of energy that could be sold to the grid as a new revenue stream.
Future plans
Lauren has accepted a position at PepsiCo in Alberta working as a Continuous Improvement Engineer. Grace will be seeking full-time employment in IT and software management consulting. Cameron will be attending the UBC Bachelor of Education program on the route to becoming a high school math and chemistry teacher. Melina is pursuing employment in the energy field in a position with Imperial Oil. Congratulations to the members of Team 24!