Field trip of UBC Master of Engineering Leadership in Clean Energy Engineering Program 2019

MEL CEEN 2019

Every year, University of British Columbia organises a field trip for the students of Master of Engineering Leadership in Clean Energy Engineering Program. This year too for the 2019 cohort we were to have a 4 day field trip to Trail,BC and the surrounding industries there. There was a clean energy conference in Trail which we were to attend on Day 2 and 3. Day 1 and 4 was for site visits to nearby industries. Here is an account of this year's field trip. I have kept it as short as possible and keeping in view the nature of this blog I have deliberately avoided going too technical. 

Day 1

Today's agenda was take our 7 15 am flight from Vancouver to a place called Castlegar from where we were to go directly to the Teck Smelter in the town of Trail. The second half of the day was to be spent visiting the Mercer Celgar Mill.

The MEL CEEN 2019 batch consists of 20 people from 8 different countries. Joining us on this trip were, our Professor Vladan and our program coordinator Olivia.

At the Vancouver Airport

Everyone gathered at the Vancouver airport by 5 45 am and by 8 am we were gliding in the 50 seater plane over some spectacular mountain scenery.  I was sitting beside Andres who,during our conversation revealed that he is a Ultimate frisbee National level player and had represented Colombia in the world championship in 2012. This is one of the things I like about going on trips together. They stimulate a deeper level of conversations.

Spectacular mountain scenery

It was only a 1 hour of flight and we reached Castlegar at around 8 30 am where two vehicles were waiting for us. From the airport, as per plan we headed towards Trail for a tour of the Teck Smelter. Unfortunately due to some unforeseen problems, we couldn't go inside the Facility and we had to contend with the exhibits in the conference room of the main office. Their representative was a nice and jovial man who kept answering our questions patiently for a long time. After a couple of hours we left and before our next site we took a break for lunch. After lunch we had an hour to kill so we just took a stroll around town. This town with the smelter and its chimneys reminded me of the cult famous American TV Show Twin Peaks of the 90s.

In the Teck Office

Chilling in Trail

The Smelter

From here we moved to our next destination, the Mercer Celgar Mill. Situated near Castlegar, it is a NBSK pulp mill which produces approx 520,000 ADMTs annually. We were met by one of the Managers at the Gate who gave us a brief introduction and safety talk before we were handed our PPEs(Personal Protective Equipment). It took me right back to my work days. The last time I wore a Helmet or a Hard hat as they call it here, was in November 2018 back in India. So the sensation of that helmet sitting on my head felt good. We were then split into two groups and started off on our tour. We were shown different equipment and processes involved but the most striking image was that of a huge wood chip truck unloading, where they lift and tilt the whole truck to unload its contents. After a 2 hour tour we all assembled back at the meeting point where we thanked the manager and other personnel there and left for out hotel near Rossland.

We checked into Hotel Josie around 6 pm. Hotel Josie is set at the base of a ski hill, the famous Red Mountain Resort. As it was summer now, there was no snow and all the sky chairs were still. There are no homes nearby except for a complex of other buildings, some hotels and some restaurants. Quite a lonely location but spectacularly beautiful.For dinner and some wandering around we decided to go the nearest town Rossland. Born as a result of the Gold Rush in the 1890s, Rossland was at one time, Western Canada's largest city with world famous Gold mines. These days it is known for its excellent ski slopes and the world class ski champions it produces.The present town is filled with a lot of heritage buildings and we wanted to take a look around. Namendra, Thivya, Deepak, Balaji, Divya and Benjamin and myself went there and after a delicious dinner we went for a long walk. Its a pretty little town and we had a good time there.

Arriving at the Hotel Josie

Hotel Josie

Some beautiful streets near the Hotel

Strolling in Rossland

Dinner at Idgie's

The 'Wild west' look of the stores in Rossland

Day 2

Today's agenda was to visit the Clean Energy BC Spring Conference in Trail. The whole conference was held in the Best Western Hotel. After a quick breakfast we headed directly to the conference venue by 9 am. We were a couple of minutes late but we managed to grab some chairs. There was a nice roster of speakers coming up and I was excited to hear them. Session 1 was about Clean Energy Funding Opportunities in British Columbia. Speakers were from Ministry of Energy and Western Canada Economic Diversification Canada. Next was a keynote address by Andrew Weaver, a Canadian Scientist, Politician and Author.

Andrew Weaver

I liked his talk a lot. In addition to all the thought provoking points he made one stuck in my mind. He said ''Targets without a plan are not worth the paper they are written on''. Something to note down which I did then immediately. I also made a mental note to check out his books. Next session was titled '' Think Global and Act Local'' Speakers included people from Northland Power and Nelson Hydro. After this there was a break for lunch. After lunch, Jifa and myself went out for a stroll and were back in the venue by the start of the afternoon session. This session was titled  ''Building the Clean Economy: Job Opportunities with Clean BC'' Speakers were from Delphi Group, Fortis BC and Selkirk College.  The final session was the ''Kootenay Showcase''. After the session ended there was a brief period of networking and we met a lot of awesome people there. After this we went back to our Hotel. There was going to be a Gala dinner so we had a little bit of rest and after that headed to the Gala. It was a nice event. we got to know and talk to a lot of people from different industries. Meanwhile there was a game going on between the Toronto Raptors and the Golden State Warriors. Talk now and then drifted to the game and by the time the gala ended people were already drifting off from the dinner to the hall outside where everyone was glued to the TV. I stood there for sometime enjoying more the camaraderie these sports games bring out in people than the game itself. After the dinner, Sara, Anna,Thivya and myself took a stroll behind the hotel in the vast open space at the base of the mountains nearby. All the chairlifts were lying there silent and still. Reminded me of the pics of Chernobyl they show where everything is still and silent.  A bit ahead in the distance was another Hotel. Its design and location reminded me of the Overlook Hotel from one of my favorite Horror movies 'The Shining'. Anna mentioned that there was a plan to hike to the top of the nearby mountain the next day. I was happy to join them.

The Gala Dinner

Day 3

As per plan, today I woke up early and was at the lobby by 6 am. Soon Anna and Sonja joined and we started off on our little hike. There were two mountains nearest to our hotel and they looked beautiful as the carpet of green grass on them shone brilliantly in the clear morning sunlight. The air was fresh and the tip of the taller of the two mountains was engulfed by clouds. Overall it was a brilliant day for a hike. We chose the shorter of the two mountains to climb as we did not have much time on our hands. We started our hike keeping the chairlift line as our line of reference. We walked on the marked trails there and as we gained elevation the beauty of the surroundings slowly unfolded. We reached the top after maybe 40 minutes and the view from this point was spectacular. Our hotel and the cluster of buildings surrounding it, was perched in the middle of a group of hills. The valley beyond these hills was totally enveloped by a blanket of fog. With the Sun sometimes peeking out from the clouds, the whole of this blanket lit up now and then. Beyond the fog rose a layer of mountains again. The view was surreal. We took some pics here and immediately started our descent. We were back in our hotel by 8 am. After a quick breakfast we were on our way to attend the 2nd day of the conference.

For the site visits there were two time slots to choose from. A 9 am one and a 10 30 am one. I chose the latter one. There were a few of us for the second slot and we had an hour and half to kill after the first bus departed. Some of us decided to take a stroll and look around the town of Trail. We formed a group of  7. There was Sara, Thivya, Namendra, Divya, Shashank, Harsohena and myself. We roamed the streets a bit after which we spotted a bridge spanning the nearby Columbia river. We went on the bridge and enjoyed the walk over it. It offered some excellent views of the town and of the smelter. Pretty soon it was time and we made our way back to the Hotel.At 10 30 am sharp our group left for the site visits. We were joined by other attendees of the conference. Almost all of them were from the local industries of the region.

Our first stop was at the Waneta Dam. Located on the Columbia River this Dam has two phases. Phase 1 had 4 units/turbines and Phase 2 had 2 units/turbines with a total combined generation capacity of 490 MW. The representatives of Teck, Columbia Power and Fortis BC were there to show us around the facility. We were given PPE(Personal Protective Equipment) to wear which included a Hard hat, Safety glasses and steel toe covers for our shoes to protect our feet. We were taken to Phase 2 first where we walked through the main Turbine Hall. Here a brief explanation was given and questions followed. From here we went to Phase 1. This was much smaller than the other one and  much older. This was constructed in 1954. Over the course of an hour and half, as the tour progressed we asked lots of questions which the personnel there patiently answered.

The second stop for the day was Brilliant Dam. Here we were welcomed by an all Woman team of 3. There was a brief safety talk after which we were taken inside for a quick tour. Situated on the Kootenay River, Brilliant Dam's capacity is 140 MW with a total of 4 Francis Turbines. For me two things stuck in my mind. First, some of the gates were partially open sending the water downstream. I had seen dams before, huge ones too back in India but never saw one with the gates open. This was the closest I came to seeing a dam with its gates lifted. The huge amount of water was creating mists partially obscuring our view from downstream of the dam where we came through a cave. Now, this cave was the second thing which stood out. They had a cave dug out which connected two sections of the power plant.

From here we headed off to our next stop, Nelson Hydro.For me this was the best part of all the site visits. The Upper Bonnigton Generating Station is a living Museum. The First unit was installed and commenced operation in 1907. Over the years more units were added in 1910, 1929 and 1950. The astonishing part is that except unit 1 all of them are still working! Some Brilliant engineering right there. All of them were built by a company called Allis Chalmers Bullock. Formed in 1901,  it was at one time one of the biggest manufactures of Agricultural equipment in the USA. It no longer exists as it was dissolved in 1998. The capacities of the units are Unit 1- 750 KW, Unit 2- 1200 KW, Unit 3- 2350 KW, and Unit 4 - 6000 KW. The head for all the units is 21.54 metres. We looked around, walked past the tops of the turbo-generators in the main turbine hall and took a lot of pics. Overall this was the most exciting site.

From Nelson we headed back to our Hotel and as there was not much to do we had dinner in the hotel's restaurant itself and called it a day.

Day 4

It was time to pack up today as we were checking out from the hotel in the morning itself. Plan for the day was to go for some site visits and then after a celebratory dinner in Kimberly, before heading directly to the Airport at Cranbrook.

First stop today was the Waste Water Treatment Plant at Creston. Here we had a chance to look at the process where waste water from nearby town of Creston was treated. An interesting feature here was the use of Geotubes. After a quick tour of the facility and a question and answer session we headed off to the next site, that is the Sunmine Solar field. Located on a side of a hill, this place has 96 solar trackers on which are mounted around 4000 solar cell modules. This is BC's largest solar project and Canada's largest solar tracking facility. This project is supported by Teck. Total generation capacity is 1.05 MW. One of the Engineers was here with us to show us around.  As this was the last site of our field trip we took a group pic here before we headed to Kimberly.

Kimberly is a small town with picture perfect streets. The street lamps were adorned with clusters of beautiful flowers at the top. And there were triangle flags running from pole to pole. We sauntered around these pretty streets looking around at the stores till we reached Kimberly's claim to fame that is the Cuckoo clock they have. Its the largest freestanding cuckoo clock in Canada. Its a pretty thing, two stories tall, a clock on its main side and a little balcony above the clock. I went near it to have a closer look when I spotted a coin slot there with instructions on how to insert coins. I rummaged around in my wallet but I had no coins with me. I asked around and both Sara and Thivya had some. I inserted one and ran a bit further away to have a look. A moment later the doors of the balcony flew open and a short guy with a thick mustache came out and sang for a bit. It was fun and we had a good laugh. There was demand for more shows and we did watch it a couple of times more. Soon it was time for our dinner and we made our way to the quaint cafe called 'the Shed' where we were to have our dinner. After some nice banter there and some good delicious food it was time to go. We made our way to the Airport at Cranbrook, from where our flight was to leave at 7 20 pm. We were back in Vancouver by 7 45 pm. Thus ended a wonderful field trip all thanks to UBC, Our Professor Vladan and Program Coordinator Olivia!'

Relaxing in Kimberly

The stunning location of the Airport at Cranbrook

Landing in Vancouver!

A Student's initial days and first impressions of Vancouver, Canada.

As I sit here in my Hostel room, writing this, its snowing outside. From my 9th floor window I can see everything is covered by a layer of white. The cars parked on the nearby roads are indistinguishable from each other, covered as they are by snow. The roads themselves are enveloped with white snow except for two parallel lines of tire marks. Far Away the university clock tower glows as it shines amidst the falling snow. Now and then a person shuffles along the empty roads. Everything looks so beautiful. Its not the first time I am seeing snow but its such a rare sight for me that it fills me with joy. The day is dark and dull but as I sit inside the warm room I look back at how it all came down to this. Its been already 3 months since I moved to Vancouver and I simply love this city.

Flight Experience

My journey started from Hyderabad where I took an Indigo flight to Mumbai. One of my acquaintances from my company was also joining the same university and was joining me on this journey. I met Mounica and her husband in the waiting area before we boarded the flight. Two more people were joining us from Mumbai. We reached Mumbai around 8 30 pm where we met Ram and Thivya. The actual pain of International flights started from here. After some laborious immigration procedures and security checks, we finally reached the boarding point after 4 hours. We only had 30 mins to grab something for dinner which we had at around 1 30 am. Then we boarded our Air China flight to Beijing. This was my first time in an International flight and I was excited enough to not get bored for the next 6 hours till we reached Beijing. I played around with the In-flight entertainment, watched a movie, looked out the windows and for most of the time, followed the flight path on the screen. Soon it was time for my In-flight meal which consisted of the following.I had requested a Halal meal package and the air hostess specifically asked about it and delivered it to be separately.

Soon we reached Beijing. It was a bright morning in Beijing when we exited the plane and made our way to the waiting hall. Contrary to all my apprehensions we had a smooth transition and we were in the waiting hall for the next flight in an hour. The airport was large and roomy and I saw lots of people wearing the long, below knee level coats. This reminded me of old Chinese movies. After 4 hours here we boarded our next flight to Vancouver. We were into our 3rd and final part of the Journey now. The excitement wore off and I slept for most of the time of this 10 hour flight.

Vancouver

Weary and tired we reached Vancouver around 10 am of a Wednesday. As soon as the flight landed we let out a sigh of relief. Our 24 hour journey was finally coming to an end. We made our way out towards the exit where we found out, to our dismay that one more final hurdle remained between us and a good sleep. This was where we were to be handed out our Study Permits. This process took around 3 hours to complete. The only thing that kept our senses intact was the good humored banter of the immigration officer who kept cracking jokes now and then. Finally with our study permits in hand we  made our way out to the exit. Here Mounica informed that one of our mutual acquaintances,Lakhsman, was coming to pick her up and Thivya. So ram and myself decided to wait till Lakhsman came so that we could meet him before leaving for the Airbnb we had booked. As we were waiting in the lounge I looked around the place. Right on the opposite of the exit doors were two figures made of what I assumed to be wood with their hands outstretched. I could quickly surmise them to be related to the First nations of the country. Before leaving for Canada I had read a book on the history of Canada and I had a bit of an idea about its history including those of the original inhabitants of the country now called the First nations.

Vancouver Airport Website mentions this about these figures ''Carved by Joe David in the Clayquot tradition of the Nuu-chah-nulth people, these welcome figures are based on those that would be placed on the beach in front of a village or a big house. to greet guests.The male figure wears the traditional knobbed hat of a high-ranking person such as a whaling chief, the female figure wears the more common domed hat. The figures are carved from cedar logs David salvaged from West Coast beaches and stand with open arms to greet international visitors as they arrive to Canada.''

Soon Lakhsman came and after a brief conversation we parted ways. Lakshman,Mounica and Thivya
 went on their way and Ram and Myself walked out of the airport. One of the main things I was worried about was the temperature. On that day it was around 3 deg. Not too cold. We  hailed a taxi and were soon on our way to our Airbnb. Our Taxi driver was an Indian and soon engaged us in conversation.Knowing that this was our first time in Canada he started offering us tips and advice. In between nodding and replying to his questions I kept looking out the window. The landscape looked like all those Hollywood movies I grew up watching. We sped past huge warehouses, neat and clean streets, pretty houses and modern fancy looking buildings. Suddenly a police car raced along with sirens blaring. By far it was the coolest police car I had ever seen. It reminded me of the Need for Speed games. We soon reached our destination. The driver could locate the house just by the street and house number which was quite fascinating to be honest. The neighborhood looked quiet and nice. Looking at it, the first thought that came to my mind was the movie Halloween, specifically the first scene where Micheal Myers makes his appearance near the Hedge. With these thoughts running in my mind, I took our bags inside our Airbnb. It was a decent place. Our room was on the ground floor. Two of our friends from India had already arrived and were staying in the same Airbnb but they were not at home that time. So with nothing much to do Ram and myself soon went off to sleep.

By the time I woke up it was dark outside. The house was quiet and still. I dragged myself off the bed groggily and  walked over to the nearest window. I drew the curtains aside and looked out the window.A row of beautiful houses ran along the street . They were enveloped in the yellow glow of street lights. But not a sight of a human being. My reverie was interrupted by the rumblings of my stomach.  I was mighty hungry. I had to eat something. I was thinking what to do when I heard some laughter from upstairs. I figured the other guys were home so I walked up and there I met Namendra and Pavan for the first time. After a brief chat I went downstairs. Ram was still sleeping and I didn't want to wake him so I just carefully walked out of the room to go to the nearby hub of shops and eateries.

This was going to be my first walk in Canada and I would be lying if I said I was not apprehensive. I walked out of the house dressed in multiple layers of clothing, woolen socks, gloves and a beanie. All ready to brave the Canadian winter. Guided by the directions given by Namendra I began my walk. Our street was lined with beautiful houses on either side. All made of wood and with pretty little gardens around. A neat pavement ran along both sides for the pedestrians. I walked on this as I looked around the houses. Now and then I had to cross a street and a few cars which were on the roads stopped to let me cross the road. I last experienced this kind of stuff when I was in Bhutan. I soon reached the main street of Kerrisdale. But all this while I didn't meet even one person. Not a soul. I was so used to the mass of people back home that this was a bit unnerving. Anyway I looked around for something to eat but found that most of the eateries had closed for the day. The only thing open was the familiar McDonald's. And since I knew that the meat wouldn't be halal I just bought some Egg Muffins to go with and trudged back home. As I walked back on the empty and desolate streets I couldn't help but wonder at the solitude of the whole area. I could see the houses and the lights inside but everything was so quiet. As soon as I reached the Bnb stay I had one muffin and I Jumped right back into the bed. Thus ended my first day in Canada. In summary it was just a tangled mass of tiredness, confusion and uneasy sleep.

University of British Columbia

I woke up the next day, my brain still disoriented and muddled. We were to go to our University today to complete a few formalities. Though I did not feel like going, I did not want to miss out, so reluctantly I joined the others. After some much needed breakfast we started our walk to Kerrisdale. The morning air was cold and fresh. I could see the pretty houses much better now and the whole locality looked immensely beautiful. We were to take the public transit bus to UBC from Kerrisdale. This was again a first for me. Thankfully I had the company of Namendra and Pavan to guide me about the process of using the buses. I liked two things about the system immediately. One was the use of cards to pay the fare. One has to simply tap a card at a screen at the front of the bus and its done. Second thing was the way everyone greeted the driver while getting on the bus and saying 'Thank you' while getting off.

I sat near the window and took in the views as the bus went on its way. Soon we entered a forested area. I could gather from the google maps which I had opened in my phone that we had just entered the University Area. Soon we reached the last stop, the UBC Bus exchange.We, like everyone else, conveyed our thanks to the driver and got off. From here we parted ways with Namendra and Pavan who were going for some other work. Ram and myself strolled around a bit. We walked around the aquatic center, the Life Building, the Nest building and the UBC Bookstore. From what little we saw we found it beautiful. But before we could explore further we had work to do. We headed over to UBC Book store to apply for our UBC Id cards. As soon as I entered the bookstore I recalled the words of the Mughal Emperor Jahangir when he visited Kashmir for the first time. He said ''Gar firdaus, ruhe zamin ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hami ast" which translates to ''If there is paradise on earth it is here, it is here, it is here. I could alter it a bit and say 'gar firdaus, ruhe UBC ast, hamin asto, hamin asto, hamin as" The collection of books was excellent and they had a huge stock of UBC merchandise. Hoodies, Sweatshirts, sweatpants, caps, t shirts, mugs etc. We completed our work and left the store soon. We then had to visit a bank and then we were done for the day. By 3 pm we were back in our room. As it was winter, it was dark by almost 4 pm. Thus ended the first day of our UBC experience.

Christmas Eve and Downtown.

Days passed with us going out to complete all our formalities regarding our stay in Canada.Meanwhile three more friends joined us, Sunil, Rehan and Suyog. That made us 7 in all. Till now the only exploring I did was go around the locality I was staying in and that one day stroll around the campus. Soon it was Christmas time and we thought going to downtown was the  best way to take in the festive spirit. So off we went to downtown. We called up other people of our batch and we all met near Canada Place. A building designed in the way of a yacht with sails on top of it, it is the main cruise ship terminal for the region. We wandered here the whole evening till it was dark. From here we moved on to the streets of downtown, moving around casually with no set destination in mind. The streets were a sight to behold. The shops were adorned with lights and wreaths bringing out the quaintness in them. The street lamps were lined with strings of lights. There were a number of Christmas trees here and we soon found the biggest and the best one near a street corner. A band was playing music nearby. The whole scene looked so surreal and beautiful. I spotted a shawarma food truck nearby. Namendra and myself got one soon and settled down on the steps of a nearby building. We ate the shawarmas and took in the whole atmosphere. It was a memorable evening.

Kitsilano Beach

One other outing we had was when we visited the Kitsilano Beach. Eager to go to a beach we visited the nearest one. The place where I used to work before I came to Canada was near the sea. The last time I visited the beach there I touched the water and made a mental note to myself that the next time I will be touching the water of a beach it will be the Pacific Ocean thousands of kilometers away. So the one first thing I did as soon as I reached the Kitsilano Beach is touch the water there. The beach itself is quite picturesque with nice chairs to sit on and take in the views. And plenty of area to take walks. 

New Year

Finally New year rolled along and we headed to Canada Place for watching the fireworks display. We had planned to watch the 9 pm "kids" display. Arriving 2 hours early we jostled among the crowds for a while before we zeroed in on a vantage point. We were not sure from which part the fireworks will be launched so we chose a spot in the middle and waited there for 9 pm. Finally the countdown started and at exactly 9 pm the fireworks began. To be honest they were a bit underwhelming. Maybe the 0000 hrs fireworks were to be much grander but we had no intention of watching those and we headed back home.

And thus ended the first 15 days of my new experience in Canada. One of the biggest concern I had before coming here was the weather. I had heard too many stories about the extreme temperatures of Canada but Vancouver had none of those. The temperature ranged between 0 to 4 Degs for the most of the days and that wasn't much of a problem to me.

Classes were to start from the next day and I slept with high anticipation of me going back to college life after a gap of 5 years.

5 things that I immediately liked about Vancouver
1. The public transport
2. The multiculturalism
3. The sidewalks and road crossing
4. The Police cars
5. The Waste disposal system.