UVic Student Wins $100,000 Environmental Prize

For three years University of Victoria mechanical engineering PhD student Aimy Ming Jii Bazylak has shared her enthusiasm for fuel cell research by speaking in the community and talking to school students. That desire to share her passion for research, her outstanding academic record and her commitment to improving the environment recently earned her the 2007 inaugural Bullitt Environmental Fellowship worth $100,000 US over two years.

“I am very honoured to accept this prestigious fellowship and I am overwhelmed by the Bullitt Foundation’s commitment to invest in my future,” says Bazylak, whose PhD research with the Institute for Integrated Energy Systems (IESVic) involves studying and controlling the flow of water, one of the by-products of the electrochemical reactions in fuel cells, to achieve higher efficiency.

The Seattle-based Bullitt Foundation is a private philanthropic foundation that provides funding to individuals and nonprofit organizations working to safeguard the natural environment by promoting responsible human activities and sustainable communities in the Pacific Northwest (www.bullit.org). The fellowship was established to honour long-time foundation chair the late Priscilla “Patsy” Bullitt Collins, who devoted much of her life to working for the public good and donated a multi-million dollar inheritance to causes she believed in.

Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Bazylak was always interested in math and science. “I have always been interested in engineering, a profession that allows me to combine math and science to design solutions that will make positive impacts on society.”

After earning an engineering physics degree at the University of Saskatchewan she moved to Victoria in 2003 to study with UVic mechanical engineering professor, and Canada Research Chair in Energy Systems Design and Computational Modelling, Ned Djilali and his colleague David Sinton.

“Aimy seems to do well in anything she does and carries her passion for promoting clean energy into the community through public outreach and volunteer activities,” says Djilali. “In between running experiments in the lab and devising new concepts in the design room, she gives public presentations on sustainable energy to community organizations and participates as a judge in science fairs to encourage middle and high school students.”

A volunteer member of the UVic Speakers Bureau since 2004, Bazylak speaks about fuel cells and women in engineering. She is also part of a team of UVic engineering students (“H2Drive”), who are designing and building a fuel-cell hybrid vehicle to compete in the Shell Eco-Marathon in California in April. Bazylak maintains a perfect 9.0 average and competes in marathons.

-- 30 --