Previous IPF Recipients

Analysis of Museum Objects for Hazardous Chemicals – $2,700.00
The goal of this project at the Museum of Anthropology is four fold: to identify dangerous chemicals on objects in the museum collections, for those objects to be labeled hazardous, analyze the potential health risks to people coming in contact with them, and to develop new museum protocol for collections based on the findings. Students in the department of anthropology and the Museum will have direct access to an analyzer instrument, giving them cutting edge experience and an upper hand in future careers in museum related work.

Beatboxing/Freestyling Workshop – $500.00
Beatboxing and Freestyling are forms of alternative improvisational skills aimed at helping students with public speaking, music appreciation, and learning quick thinking strategies. This initiative is important because these skills are utilized by a large cross section of campus like Dance Horizons, the UBC Dance Club, and students at large. This workshop will provide a benefit to students in terms of improving their presentation skills, musical ability, and learning to process thought quickly and effectively. In addition, it will provide an outlet to deal with the stresses of everyday life and school.

Bridges – $5,000.00
This project is aimed at facilitating interaction between UBC health care students and residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside. Students will be directly exposed to complex social issues of the inner-city environment including alternative lifestyle choices, poverty, addiction, HIV/AIDS, etc. “Bridges” aims at instilling a better understanding of such issues in future health care providers and improve long term service to members of these communities.

Canadian Critical Race Conference – $3,000.00
This conference will bring together indigenous scholars, community activists, researchers, and academics of colour from across disciplines to reflect critically on the state of Canadian critical race pedagogy and practice, and to continue dialogue around strategies for the elimination of racial oppression. The proceedings of the conference will be published and shared among students to illustrate new trends in Canadian race scholarship. The conference aims to foster strategies for change in the UBC community as well as benefit students, staff, and faculty and provide an educational and networking opportunity on the reflection of contemporary Canadian critical race issues.

Development Network, “Bridging the Gap” – $500.00
The Development Network and Bridging the Gap is an initiative from Engineers Without Borders and is a conference on international development. The goal of the conference is to bridge the gap between developed and developing communities by using appropriate technology, and bridging the gap between students of various faculties on campus. The conference will bring together students, professional non-governmental organizations, and faculty members to share experiences and initiate discussion on these increasingly imperative issues.

Doc ‘N’ Talk – $4,000.00
Doc ‘N’ Talk aims to provide a forum for UBC students to see cutting-edge documentaries on topical social themes and discuss them with filmmakers in an open, challenging environment. The project’s goal is to bring UBC up to date with some of the work being done by local documentary makers. In addition, students will have a chance to personally engage with filmmakers and get acquainted with the Canadian documentary film industry.

Enterprize Entrepreneurship Conference & Business Plan Competition – $1,159.00
Enterprize is a weekend long conference aimed at bridging students’ academic knowledge with the real world of business and entrepreneurship. Students will be exposed to the real opportunities that exist from award winning entrepreneurs, and will have a chance to connect with student leaders that are already making headway on their business proposals.

Filmmaker in Retrospective – $4,000.00
Regent College will host a retrospective during the Vancouver International Film Festival featuring a director who has explored spiritual themes in cinema. This retrospective aims to provide the unique experience of dialogue between the general public and a feature filmmaker. The retrospective will screen significant examples of the filmmaker’s works in conjunction with a presentation by the filmmaker.

Innovative Building, Living Legacy – $3,500.00
The Land, Food and Community Garden at the UBC farm aims to provide accessible, innovative, interactive, educational services to the Vancouver school community in order to foster a holistic awareness of the connections between land, food, and community. This project will include creating an earthen building, establishing a perennial food forest, and engaging students and the community in innovative learning. The project will provide a living laboratory for students and, by introducing this innovative building construction, UBC will be a step closer toward providing a more sustainable campus.

In the Face of War” – Photo and Art Exhibition – $4,500.00
This photo and art exhibition aims to raise awareness and commemorate the annual International Day of the Elimination of Racism on March 22 at the Canadian Global Citizenship Conference. The conference will serve as a forum for academic scholars, community activists, and students to share information, learn from each other, and generate ideas for change on preventing crimes against humanity. This conference draws on the particular example of the Asia Pacific war (1931-1945); parallels will be drawn from the Canadian experience.

Inter-Faculty Publishing Office – $5,000.00
This project involves constructing and equipping a publication office in the basement of the SUB for writing small student publications. With the creation of an inter-faculty publishing office, the project hopes to foster a collaborative environment to encourage the development of new independent student publications. The new publications will benefit UBC students directly since student publications are a key component of the information exchange necessary within a large community such as UBC.

New Student Access Terminals – $5,000.00
Ten public Internet access terminals will be installed to complement the 4,500 sq. ft. of new social space being created by the renovation of the SUB Lower Level. The new terminals will address the need created by the additional social space and will alleviate the long waiting time for the existing terminals. This project brings countless benefits to UBC students, including saving their time and resources. With the addition of terminals that have the best online technology, students’ educational, social, and personal lives will be improved.

Super Heavy Lift Aero Design Team – $1,200.00
The Super Heavy Lift Aero Design Team’s objective is to develop, design, and organize the construction and presentation of a successful and innovative solution to the aircraft design problem. The project will give students the opportunity to interact with graduate students, professors, and staff in a less formal environment with the goal of designing an aircraft to lift maximum load.

UBC Hovercraft Team – $2,000.00
The UBC Hovercraft Team will design and construct a basic hovercraft for competition at the 2003 World Hovercraft Championships. The dynamics involved in hovercraft motion are unique, and therefore require innovative techniques in design and construction. Members of the team will be challenged to learn new concepts and to apply principles gained in the classroom to new and innovative systems. The final goal of the Hovercraft Team is to race at the World Hovercraft Championships in order to bring international recognition to UBC and its students.

UBC Student Leadership Conference – $4,000.00
The Student Leadership Conference (SLC) aims to showcase the various ways of getting involved both on campus and in the community and to provide students with the leadership skills necessary for their success in those initiatives. The success of the SLC hinges on the involvement of all UBC students (graduate and undergraduate from all faculties), and addresses all aspects of leadership. The SLC inspires students to pursue leadership, shows them how to achieve it, and exposes them to many opportunities on and off campus in which they can exercise their leadership qualities. The innovation behind the SLC is that it targets both existing student leaders and potential student leaders.

V-Day UBC (Vagina Monologues) – $1,800.00
The V-Day College Campaign invites colleges and universities around the world to present benefit productions of The Vagina Monologues on their campuses on or around V-Day (Valentine’s Day, February 14) to raise money and awareness to stop violence against women. Proceeds are donated to local organizations working to stop sexual violence. One of the goals of the college campaign is to empower our youth who are the leaders, shapers, and messengers of the future.

Viewing Race: Film and Dialogue Series – $4,000.00
Viewing Race is a video and dialogue series designed to examine the impact of race and racism on interpersonal and social relationships. The series hopes to provide a safe and open forum for ideas, discussion, and positive change around the issue of race. All the various constituents of the UBC community will be involved: students, professors, and staff, in order to foster on-going collaborative efforts to build a racist free campus community. The first dialogue set in the series happened in February 2003 during Black History month. The second series will occur on March 21 during the International Day of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.