About Alan Steeves
Alan Owen Steeves provided 35 years of dedicated IT support to the Department of Mechanical Engineering at UBC. However, he was not only an exceptional IT staff member, he was also a wonderful artist, a conservationist, and a master chef. In 2009, Alan received the President’s Service Award for Excellence in recognition of his outstanding contributions to UBC campus life and for his personal achievements and, in 2011, he also received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Service.
Alan’s significant contributions to Mechanical Engineering at UBC range from the department’s first PDP11, to facilitating the significant 2003 Partners for the Advancement of Collaborative Engineering Education (PACE) donation of computer software and hardware, with a commercial value of approximately $240 million. The in-kind contribution, which consisted of computer-aided design, manufacturing, and engineering software, hardware and training, was the largest in UBC’s history. Since then, Alan attracted several more high value PACE donations and in 2008 he received the Distinguished PACE Integrator Award for promoting global collaboration among PACE institutions.
Alan was a recognized contemporary native artist. He was a member of the Kwagiutl First Nation, and began painting because of a desire to keep the stories of his grandfather alive. Alan donated his works to a number of charitable causes, exhibited them nationally and internationally, and regularly participated in the art and environmental communities. He also designed a special artwork for the Department of Mechanical Engineering, which is installed on the wall and greets you as you walk into the department’s main office. Alan was also a founding member of Trout Unlimited British Columbia and was part of the group that helped to resolve the impasse regarding the Pacific Salmon Treaty Commission in 1999.
A true, kind, soft spoken gentleman, Alan always provided UBC Mechanical Engineering with the best in IT services with a friendly and helpful manner. He was a humble man, a kind man, and a man of principles. Alan will live on in our thoughts and through the enormous impact he has had in Mechanical Engineering and the broader community.
Read MoreThe impact of your support
Alan’s Steeves’ impact on UBC was felt far beyond his contributions as an IT staff member at the Department of Mechanical Engineering.
Your donation will support a new award in Alan’s name. It will be awarded to a mechanical engineering student who exhibits creativity and involvement in the arts or student teams, with preference given to students who self-identify as Aboriginal.
List of Donors
All Donors-
Jay Zhao & Dr. Jen Yu
-
James Olson, Gayle Birkeland
-
Elizabeth and Lawrence Croft
-
Dept. of Mechanical Engineering
-
Dean’s Office, Faculty of Applied Science
-
Farrokh Sassani
-
Boris Stoeber
-
Steve Rogak & Barbara Dominik
-
Hongshen Ma & Katherine Ryan
-
Clarence W. de Silva
-
Mike Van der Loos
-
Gerry Rohling