UBC is excited to announce the recipients of the 2025 Wall Fellowships and Wall Research Awards.
Each year, these prestigious UBC awards provide approximately $4 million to push forward innovative faculty and student research tackling major sustainability challenges in British Columbia and around the world. The Wall Legacy Awards are made possible by an extraordinary gift from Dr. Peter Wall, now exceeding $100 million.
All projects align with three key areas of focus: urban sustainability, environmental protection of coastal areas, and sustainable approaches to resource-intensive industries, with a particular emphasis on the province of B.C. Research ranges from climate change to biodiversity loss, sustainable transportation, energy storage, urban water systems, biodiversity conservation, and more.
One CERC member was awarded the Wall Research Award – Individual Faculty Award ($80,000) and seven CERC members were part of three Wall Research Awards – Team Faculty Awards ($200,000).
We at CERC are thankful for Dr. Wall’s donations, which enable UBC clean energy research community to advance the energy transition. The CERC members who received the awards are listed below, together with their team members when relevant.
For the details of each project and recipients, please visit: https://walllegacyawards.ubc.ca/awardees-2025/
Wall Research Awards – Individual Faculty Award
Dr. Alexandra Tavasoli, CERC member
Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering
Project title: SHADE: Solar Hybrid Air-Conditioning for Decarbonized Environments
Wall Research Awards – Team Faculty Awards
Project Title: Securing a community-led, sustainable, and resilient energy future for BC
Team (From left to right): Dr. Tarun Khanna (Lead PI, Assistant Professor at School of Public Policy and Global Affairs), Dr. Christine Chen (CERC member, Associate Professor at Electrical and Computer Engineering); Dr. Dominic Liao-McPherson (CERC member, Assistant Professor at Mechanical Engineering)
Project Title: Upcycling agricultural waste water from the Fraser Valley into fertilizer using renewable electricity
Team (From left to right): Dr. Eric Lees (Lead PI , CERC member, Assistant Professor at Chemical and Biological Engineering), Dr. Elod Gyenge (CERC member, Professor at Chemical and Biological Engineering), Dr. Mauricio Ponga (CERC member, Associate Professor at Mechanical Engineering)
Project Title: BATTERY-MAP (Management, Assessment & Policy): A Strategic Framework for Second-Life and Recycling of EV Lithium-Ion Batteries
Team (From left to right): Dr. Jian Liu (Lead PI, CERC member, Associate Professor at Mechanical Engineering and Principal’s Research Chair in Energy Storage Technologies), Dr. Amanda Giang (CERC member, Assistant Professor at Mechanical Engineering), Dr. Mauricio Ponga (CERC member, Associate Professor at Mechanical Engineering)