BCBusiness

NOVEMBER 2017 BCBUSINESS 93 POOYA NABEI WEEKEND WARRIOR I've always enjoyed cars. I follow Formula One, so I'm not surprised I like racing: the adrenaline side of it, and it's such a surprisingly physical but also very, very mental sport. The level of focus required is incred- ible. It's super satisfying when you get it right. And maybe not super surpris- ing, given that I'm an engi- neer, developing the car side of it has turned out to be incredibly satisfying. It's OK working on cars to keep them running, but it's much more fun to work on a car to make it faster and then get to see the rewards of that when you're at the track, trying to win events. I have one [car] I drive to work, and I have a race car. It's a BMW M3 from '99. It's been pretty heav- ily modi„ed. I've been racing for about 12 years now. I bought a '97 BMW M3, the same model as the race car, as my daily driver to work. Shortly after buying that, I ran across the UBC Sports Car Club holding a promotional event. They hold these events where you spend $30 or $40 to come out for a race. This is autocross, so you're not racing against other cars; you're racing against the clock. The group of people that ran these events was so welcoming, it turned out to be a really nice social thing as well. I started coming out to their events and little by little got better and bet- ter. It went from that to doing some bigger events. My favourite is the Knox Mountain Hillclimb [in Kelowna]. I've also recently been to Italy to race Ferraris. Someone wrote about me racing in the UBC engineer- ing newsletter, and one of our alumni in Switzerland —he owns seven or eight Ferraris, most of them actual race cars, not street cars—saw that I raced. He said, "We race on Formula One tracks in Europe. If you're ever in Europe, let me know, and I'll invite you to an event." I went out last fall and raced three di™erent cars in Tuscany, [at] the Mugello race track. The events I run, we hit maybe 180, 190 kilometres an hour. There we were hitting 270, 280 kilometres an hour. —as told to Felicity Stone STAY/ This month, Marriott International Inc. expects to open its Civic Hotel at Surrey City Centre. The Autograph Collection business hotel offers 144 guest rooms, the Dominion Bar + Kitchen, a rooftop deck and coworking space. The ballroom, with its own kitchen, can accommodate 230 dinner guests or 250-plus with theatre-style seating. WEAR/ Tense Enterprise Inc. has been handcrafting watches in Vancouver from recycled or reclaimed wood since 1971. Its new Hybrid Watch Series contains Swiss movements. Tense's customizable timepieces allow customers to choose from a variety of watch faces, wood or leather bands, colours and engravings. BUILD/ East Vancouver's Union Wood Co. has started a commercial division to make custom desks, storage, boardroom tables, millwork and more for business offices, retailers, restaurants and hospitality spaces. Clients include Earls Restaurants Ltd., Lululemon Athletica Inc., the Me&Lewis Ideas Inc. advertising agency and Unbounce Marketing Solutions Inc. DRINK/ Delta-based Goodridge & Williams Distilling recently launched Nütrl Vodka Soda, made with small-batch handcrafted vodka, soda water and natural lemon. Free of sugars, sweeteners, additives and preservatives, the soda has just 98 calories per 355-millilitre can. SEE/ Founded by Vancouver optometrist Harbir Sian, online retailer Kingsley Eyewear sells a range of eyeglasses with handmade Italian acetate frames. For every pair purchased, a person in need receives a full eye exam and a pair of glasses through Optometry Giving Sight. –F.S. The latest developments in the world of lifestyle, from hotels to eyewear (and more!) CAR-FICIONADO Marziali putters with his modified '99 BMW M3 Andre Marziali is director of engineering physics at UBC and co-founder of Boreal Genomics Inc., a biotech company launched in 2007 that detects mutations in tumour cells by analyzing DNA. NEW + IMPROVED WARRIOR SPOTLIGHT Wheels on Fire Boreal Genomics co-founder and UBC engineering prof Andre Marziali races BMWs in B.C. and Ferraris in Italy

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