Top Eight Senior Theses
The following seniors garnered top honors in their class when they presented their senior projects to a jury of industry professionals at the Nittany Lion Inn on May 4, 2007.
Corinne R. Ambler, (Construction) focused her senior thesis on the Health and Human Services Building at Coppin State University located in Baltimore, MD. This five-story, 150,000 sf academic facility will be completed in August 2008. Her technical analyses focused on minimizing solar heat gain by lowering an existing sunshade on the fifth floor and proposing a new lighting design for the overhead pedestrian bridge to create a prestigious symbol for Coppin State University. Corinne’s critical industry issue researched current strategies used to manage the risk of escalating construction costs and provided recommendations for managing the risk. She plans to rejoin Barton Malow Company’s Coppin State Health and Human Services Building Project Team in July and pursue a master of business administration.
Justin S. Bem, (Mechanical/HVAC) focused his thesis project on the integration of multiple building systems in order to save operating cost and energy for the Milton Hershey School's New Supply Center. The focus of his work included the use of direct fired chiller-heaters, condenser water heat recovery from walk-in freezers, and the use of dedicated outdoor air systems. The mechanical work also affected other AE disciplines and created an overall reduction in the project's initial cost while saving energy and operating costs compared to the existing system. Bem plans to spend the next year working to complete his M.S. degree in AE before entering the workforce with James Posey Associates in Baltimore, MD, in May 2008.
Clement K. Fung, (Lighting/Electrical) completed his thesis project on the 68,413 sf Student Resource Building at the University of California-Santa Barbara. In addition to implementing alternative lighting designs for four of the spaces in this building, he also examined the feasibility of using an on-site building integrated photovoltaic system as well as switching out the current transformers with ones that are energy efficient. A LEED study was also done to see if it was possible to achieve more points by examining a few credits that were not attempted at the time of study. Finally, an architectural redesign of the exterior north east plaza was also proposed. In spring 2007, Clement graduated with his Integrated B.A.E./M.A.E. degree as well as a minor in Architecture. This summer he joined Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP in Chicago.
Katherine A. Jenkins, (Lighting/Electrical) completed her thesis project on William H. Gates Hall, the new law school facility at the University of Washington in Seattle, WA. Her thesis work included the lighting redesign of four spaces throughout the building and the redesign of several building electrical systems. In addition, she looked at the feasibility of implementing a rainwater catchment system to help offset the cooling tower makeup water requirements for the building. Upon graduation she will move to Seattle, WA, where she has accepted a position with Flack and Kurtz.
Paul J. Parfitt’s, (Structural) thesis project focused on Tower 333, an 18 story office building in Bellevue, WA. It included redesigning the lateral force resisting system from a dual concrete core and perimeter moment frame system into a centralized concrete shear wall core system. Challenges for this study included designing for the high seismic region that the building was located in, as well as the fact that the building utilizes an existing foundation from another building that was abandoned during construction. Following Parfitt’s summer internship with Wiss Janney Elstner Associates in Denver CO, he will return to Penn State to graduate in December with his B.A.E./M.A.E. degree.
Andrew Rhodes (Mechanical) completed his thesis project on the Hilton Baltimore Convention Center Hotel, a multi-use facility set to open in downtown Baltimore in August 2008. His project involved the redesign of the existing building mechanical system by first conducting a chiller plant optimization study of the existing system, and then creating four design alternatives: district chilled water with a backpressure steam turbine, on site centrifugal cooling, on site absorption cooling, and on site absorption cooling with a backpressure steam turbine. Following graduation, Rhodes will join Southland Industries in Sterling, VA as a design engineer.
Heather A. Sustersic, (Structural) studied 855 N. Wolfe Street, Building L-1, for her thesis project. It is currently under construction in Baltimore, MD as part of the 80-acre New East Baltimore redevelopment. Since Building L-1 is a tenant fit-out biomedical research facility, Heather researched sensitive equipment floor vibration criteria and applied that research to a post-tensioned concrete building redesign. She explored the construction management issues resulting from the new concrete design and also evaluated the building wall envelope for potential failure mechanisms. Heather has accepted a full-time structural engineering position at the State College office of Hope Furrer Associates, Inc.
Tyler W. Swartzwelder, (Construction) focused his senior project on the Canton Crossing Tower in Baltimore, MD. Tyler was an intern with Gilbane Building Company on the project for two summers. The tower’s mechanical and electrical equipment were originally designed in a district system and were to be housed in the central plant. His redesign looked at eliminating that central plant and making the tower a stand alone system. From that, he decided that the initial design of the foundation as precast concrete piles should be investigated further. Swartzwelder’s redesign changed the tower's foundation system to a cast-in-place concrete caisson system. For his research, He looked at creating a LEED Guide for developers. He analyzed forty different LEED topics and created a guide for four different types of developers. Following graduation, Swartzwelder will be working for Gilbane Building Company in Laurel, MD.
This year, Professor Robert J. Holland assisted Professor Kevin Parfitt in the teaching and administration of the Senior Thesis course sequence.