Student Honors and Activities

Grad Student Wins Several Awards

Ph.D. candidate Sezer Atamturktur has won several awards during the past year. First, she has been chosen as the recipient of the Dominick J. DeMichele Scholarship Award. The purpose of this award is to honor and memorialize the generous spirit of Dick DeMichele by providing financial assistance to students traveling to present papers at an International Modal Analysis Conference (IMAC). Sezer was also the 2007 recipient of the James L. Noland Student Fellowship Award for her work on the structural assessment of existing masonry structures by utilizing the nondestructive testing and computer modeling under the direction of Dr. Thomas E. Boothby. Finally, Sezer was granted the World University Network Fellowship and visited the Department of Civil & Structural Engineering at the University of Sheffield in the U.K.. While at the University she worked with Professor Aleksandar Pavic and Paul Reynolds. Their research centered around the Beverly Minister church which is located in Beverly, UK. She was joined by AE MS students, Sally Gimbert and Stefanie Terentiuk who visited the University for a short time to help Atamturktur with her work.

2007 ASHRAE Student Design Project

ASHRAE student members Kevin Kaufman and Justin Bem placed 3rd in the 2007 ASHRAE Student Design Competition's system selection category.  The project consisted of the design and selection of the heating, cooling, and air conditioning systems for a renovation of a downtown NYC building that is being converted to a biotech research building.   The goal of the project was to compare multiple air and water side systems based on life cycle cost, and make the appropriate recommendations.  One of the challenges of the project was balancing the large amount of air and space pressurization requirements f or laboratory spaces while still meeting energy codes.  NYC's high energy costs also required that many alternatives be analyzed. 

The selected air side system consisted of a combination of VAV air handling units and dedicated outdoor air systems (DOAS) with radiant cooling panels.   Air cooled screw chillers provided the chilled water for the air handling units and the radiant panels.  A hot water heat recovery system was also implemented that provided "free" domestic hot water heating by using the chilled water system's condenser water loop.  A variety of both air and water system combinations were compared but were not recommended because of higher life cycle costs.  Air systems compared included VAV, DOAS, and chilled beams while some waterside options explored included water and air cooled central plants. The selected system had an initial cost of $755,766 which is higher than others, but has a payback period of 3 - 4 years due to energy savings.