BCIT Faculty, Instructor, & Researcher profiles

Director, Natural Health and Food Products Research Group (NRG), Canada Research Chair in Phytoanalytics

Dr. Paula Brown is the Director of the BC Institute of Technology's Natural Health and Food Products Research Group (NRG), which has been actively supporting the NHP industry for over a decade through applied research activities, including product development, establishment of quality standards and regulatory compliance. By providing fundamental investigations on product quality, safety and efficacy, BCIT supports industry through the entire continuum, from grower to manufacturer, ensuring product integrity is maintained. Dr. Brown has spoken at numerous conferences over the last decade on product quality standards, analytical method validation and is currently the "Quality Focus" columnist for Nutraceuticals World.

An active volunteer, Dr. Brown sits on various Boards, Committees and Working Groups including the Dietary Supplement Joint Committee (NSF) and the Analytical Laboratories and Botanical Raw Material Committees (American Herbal Products Association). She is currently a Director for the Investment Agriculture Foundation of BC which strategically invests federal and provincial funds in support of innovative projects to benefit the agri-food industry. In 2003 she was a founding Director of the NHP Research Society of Canada, dedicated to supporting and promoting scientifically rigorous NHP research and education and most recently she joined the Advisory Board of the American Botanical Council.Dr. Brown serves on two grant review committees for National Center for Complementary & Alternative Medicine, NIH and is a reviewer for numerous peer-reviewed Journals in the field of analytical chemistry and natural products. A Fellow of the AOAC International (2009), she served as Referee for the Dietary Supplement Methods Committee from 2004-2009, is a current member of the Dietary Supplement Task Force (2003-present), and has participated on seven Expert Review Panels for AOAC. In addition she has directed three full collaborative studies; Goldenseal (Official Methods SM 2008.04), Ginseng (SM 2008.05) and Echinacea (in review).

Dr. Brown is currently a member of the Natural Health Products Program Advisory Committee (PAC), and Chair of it's Product Testing Working Group, convened to make recommendations on policy related to standards of evidence for quality. The mandate of the PAC is to provide the NHP Program Directorates (Natural Health Products Directorate, Marketed Health Products Directorate and Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate) with advice and recommendations on current and emerging issues relevant to the Canadian regulatory framework for natural health products.

Rodger Beatson, BSc, PhD (Organic Chemistry), Faculty, Chemical and Environmental Technology.

Areas of interest: Energy efficiency in mechanical pulping, production of dissolving pulps, forest biomass as a source of fuels and chemicals, genetic control of plant fibre properties.

SW01 2448 - Burnaby Campus

Rodrigo Mora, PhD, P.Eng. 

PhD Building Systems Integration (Concordia University), MEng, Building Science (Concordia University), Civil Engineer, Building services and systems (Pontificia Universidad Javeriana). 

Throughout his professional career, Mora has focused on involving research and development for the planning and design of large residential developments and hospitals, as well as his academic research, he has been keen on developing tools and methods to help engineer built environments that are healthy, welcoming and pleasant. Rodrigo is passionate about great architecture and human-centered design. As such his research focuses on improving knowledge on modelling and measuring techniques for predicting indoor environments and how these affect human health and improve human experiences in buildings. He uses this knowledge to investigate novel environmental systems that are responsive to the needs and goals of people, and in harmony with the environment.

NE01 248C - Burnaby Campus

Ph.D., EIT, Instructor, Program Coordinator, Civil Engineering, School of Construction and the Environment

Sudip's interests and expertise are in the fields of construction materials and structural engineering. His current research interests include durability modelling of concrete structures, investigating different non-destructive test methods for masonry blocks, and looking into the development of testing standards for shotcrete. Alongside his teaching responsibilities at BCIT, he continues to work part-time as a Field Engineer with Metro Testing Laboratories in Burnaby, BC.

Ph.D, Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2013. Thesis Title: The effects of global climate change on carbonation induced corrosion of reinforced concrete structures.

M.A.Sc, Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2008. Thesis Topic: The Application of Sprayed Fiber Reinforced Polymers for the Retrofit of Timber Bridges.

B.A.Sc, Civil Engineering, University of British Columbia, 2004. Specializing in Structural Engineering.

SW03 2082 - Burnaby Campus