Background

This project delivers browser-based interactive teaching tools for materials engineering students taking APSC 278 (Engineering Materials) and APSC 279 (Engineering Materials Laboratory). This includes connecting how the atomic properties of a material (bonding types, crystal structure) affect the macroscopic properties of a material (tensile strength, elasticity).

Objective

The team is aiming to develop a web app containing four modules:

1. An explorable periodic table interface where students can select different elements and visualize the likely bonding mechanisms between them.

2. An interactive unit cell visualizer that allows students to manipulate and expand crystal structures to explore atomic arrangements, and crystal properties like coordination numbers.

3. An interactive defect model in which students can visualize atomic-scale defects such as vacancies and dislocations.

4. An interactive testing simulation where students can select between a few predefined materials, initiate a virtual test, and observe macroscopic changes like deformation.

The Team

Principal Investigator(s)

• Dr. Farzaneh Farhang Mehr, Assistant Professor of Teaching, UBC Department of Materials Engineering
• Dr. Amir M. Dehkhoda, Assistant Professor of Teaching, UBC Department of Materials Engineering

Student Team

• Hannes Soderstrom, UI/UX Designer (May 2026 – August 2026)

Staff

• Ahren Spadinger-Fengler, Project Lead, Co-op Developer (May 2026 – August 2026)
• Dante Cerron, Staff Developer (May 2026 – August 2026)
• Phoebe Titus, 3D Generalist (May 2026 – August 2026)