Winners
OBEC Graduate Scholarship
2023-2024
Marley Dowling
Marley is undertaking her Master of Applied Science in Civil Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Marley has been a member of the OBEC UW chapter for approximately two years. At the start of this past academic year, she took on a more involved role with the University of Waterloo student chapter and was selected as a co-executive for the year. As one of the first ever graduate students of architectural engineering and now as a master’s student she was well suited to help engage and grow the chapter.ery involved with the Ontario Building Envelope Council, presenting at OBEC events, and co-authoring papers presented at the Canadian Conference on Building Science & Technology.
Marley’s profound interest in building science and the building envelope has been cultivated over the span of six years, beginning with her undergraduate studies in architectural engineering. Throughout her academic journey, she dedicated herself to understanding the intricate complexities of building systems, particularly through specialized coursework in building science. This educational foundation sparked a deep-seated curiosity in her, particularly regarding the multifaceted challenges inherent in optimizing building performance while satisfying the diverse array of stakeholder interests.
OBEC Undergraduate Scholarship
2023-2024
Colin Gu
Colin is a University of Toronto student in the Civil Engineering undergraduate program BASc. Colin has participated in many OBEC events over the years as well obtaining an internship with a OBEC member company. Between the third and the fourth year of the undergraduate program, Colin interned at RDH Building Science as an Engineering Assistant. His responsibilities on this role included but were not limited to conducting site visits (roof condition reports, heritage building restoration, condo new construction quality assurance (TARION), water leakage investigation and repairs recommendation) and in-office design work (commercial and residential architectural detail reviews, thermal bridging and energy loss calculations, energy retrofit options recommendations, etc.).
Colin was drawn to the field of building science because it touches on both the design of the building enclosure, and the construction and installation of its components. From a design perspective, we could calculate the theoretical best of the performance. But in the meantime, we need to pay attention to aspects like material compatibility & properties, construction sequencing, construction quality assurance, etc., so that we have a high degree of confidence that what gets installed in the field aligns with what is prescribed. Building science covers both the design and the installation and assures that the finished product delivers the claimed performance in thermal, energy and occupant comfort. It is the dedication to truth that draws my interest!
OBEC Graduate Research Scholarship
2022-2023
Dorothy Johns
Dorothy is a PhD Building Science student at Toronto Metropolitan University. Dorothy is very involved with the Ontario Building Envelope Council, presenting at OBEC events, and co-authoring papers presented at the Canadian Conference on Building Science & Technology.
Her further research interests are rooted in building science scholarship in architectural education and practice, with a focus on low-embodied carbon materials and material performance, high performance design utilizing passive and active systems, as well as low-energy and low-carbon design for human comfort from a holistic perspective on human health including physical and mental health.
OBEC Undergraduate Research Scholarship
2022-2023
Serena Kam
Serena is in her 4th year of study at the University of Waterloo, Honors Architectural Engineering & Co-op of Applied Science. Serena has a strong passion for sciences, architectural engineering, and their integration in the building envelope.
Serena’s career goal is to apply science and physics to optimize energy performance and sustainability in the built environment by designing high quality building enclosures. Retrofit is my major interest because it makes use of what we already have and avoids an enormous amount of waste from demolition and carbon emissions from producing new structural materials like concrete and steel.
OBEC Graduate Research Scholarship
2021-2022
Kelsey Eakin
Kelsey is a second year Doctor of Philosophy student from the University of Toronto in the Civil and Mineral Engineering Department. After finishing her degree, she plans to pursue a career related to building science enclosure consulting.
OBEC Undergraduate Research Scholarship
2021-2022
Babak Malekzadeh
Babak developed his interest in building science in his first semester at George Brown College while studying Construction Engineering. He was amazed about the impact the environment has on building and how a poorly designed building required more energy hence contributing to global warming. He believes if we reduce the energy in buildings, it will reduce the impact on the environment.
OBEC Undergraduate Research Scholarship
2021-2022
Maria Stakheiko
Maria has always loved a technical challenge and fell in love with physics and math. When she learned about the complexities of occupant comfort, about the myriad of materials and layers and systems that could be put together to create an efficient assembly of how every single building has different requirements from all others – that is when the spark ignited for Building Science.
OBEC Graduate Research Scholarship
2020-2021
Noor Alkhalili
Noor is a thesis student in the Master of Architecture program at the University of Toronto. She is passionate about building science and has been a teaching assistant for the past 2.5 years.
OBEC Undergraduate Research Scholarship
2020-2021
Marya Kemp
Marya is expected to complete her Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering next year from the University of Toronto. Her goal is to pursue a career in sustainability consulting.
OBEC Undergraduate Scholarship
2019-2020
Lia Codrington - University of Toronto
After finishing her undergraduate degree this year, Lia wants to continue her studies and pursue a Master’s degree. Her goal is to research the feasibility of low energy or net zero energy homes in Canada’s Northern climate, with a focus on designing culturally-appropriate solutions in collaboration with Inuit communities.
OBEC Undergraduate Scholarship
2019-2020
David Gertsvolf – Algonquin College
In September 2018 David started in level 5 of the BBSc degree program and is Excited about his future in the building science industry.
OBEC Graduate Research Scholarship
2019-2020
Kevin Zhang - Ryerson University
Kevin is very involved on campus with student groups, pushing Building Science. He is involved with OBEC on various committees and looks forward to getting more involved in the future.
OBEC Graduate Research Scholarship
2018-2019
Jelena Madzarevic
Jelena is a Master’s in Building Science candidate at Ryerson University.
OBEC Undergraduate Scholarship
2018-2019
Anna Farbis
Anna is currently in her fourth year of Engineering Science at the University of Toronto.
OBEC Graduate Research Scholarship
2017-2018
Junmeng Liu
Junmeng is a graduate from the University of Waterloo, majoring in Civil Engineering. He is currently pursuing a Master of Applied Science degree in building science at Ryerson University.
His research is in the area of pre and post occupancy building performance evaluations, and is advised by Dr. Mark Gorgolewski.
OBEC Undergraduate Scholarship
2017-2018
Peter Oliveira
Peter is currently in his fourth year of Civil Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Peter is the President and Co-Founder of the University of Waterloo Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter and Warrior Home Design Team.
He is leading a team that is researching best building science practices that can be implemented to improve the performance of Waterloo Region Habitat Homes in a cost-effective manner. Peter has spent his last two co-op terms working for RDH Building Science in Seattle and Waterloo. At work he applies his construction background and practical knowledge for how buildings work to assist RDH staff in providing quality results for clients.
