Members of UBC’s Concrete Canoe Team in the Kryton lab. From left: Daniel Lim, Talita Galvai, Matthew Cheung, Daniel Vandervelden and Flynn Dixon Murdock with Kryton’s R&D Manager Ali Biparva, and Technical Manager Jeff Bowman (both UBC Alumni).

For many years, Kryton has had the good fortune of having great working relationship with the University of British Columbia. Many of our employees are UBC Alumni themselves, and we see a number of talented co-op students come through our lab every year. We have been proud to sponsor events such as UBC Engineering Club’s Industry Night, and the UBC Concrete Canoe.

There has been a growing interest in the field of Civil Engineering – over the next 10 years, Engineering graduates in Canada can expect to see significant job growth, with expected employment growth of +11% by 2022. Increased investment in infrastructure is one of the reasons, with the new Liberal government promising $60 billion in infrastructure improvements. In Vancouver specifically, civil engineers are in demand as the city strives to lead the world in green infrastructure. These initiatives ignite design and engineering innovation to work together on exciting new projects such as Telus Garden, Van Dusen Gardens Visitors Centre, the Vancouver Convention Centre and Olympic Cauldron,  and UBC’s own Earth Sciences building to name a few.

With all of this growth, the field is getting increasingly competitive, with engineering students continually looking for projects and initiatives to enhance their experience and knowledge before graduation. One extracurricular club was formed at UBC in recent years, and Kryton has been proud to sponsor the team for the past three.

Jeff Bowman explains the benefits and proper application of Kryton’s Hydrostop Sealer – a hydrophobic, water-based silane and siloxane sealer.

The UBC Concrete Canoe team stopped by the Kryton Headquarters in Vancouver today, for a tour of the facility and a training session or our Hydrostop Sealer, which they will use on the canoe to create a hydrophobic surface. In recent years, the team has tested different waterproofing products with their many mix designs, to find out which design will give them the leading edge in competition.

This year they will participate in two competitions: the 2016 ASCE Regional Concrete Canoe Competition in Moscow, Idaho, and the Canadian National Concrete Canoe Competition in Montreal, Quebec.