AEI Student Competition | 350 Mission Street | San Francisco, California
Robert Livorio | Lighting/Electrical

ABET Accreditation Survey [PDF]

I am grateful for the opportunity to have participated in an interdisciplinary thesis design team, and my experience working in a collaborative setting was a very positive one.  Being a part of a design team simulates a more realistic working environment, where the first design is never the last, and it is truly an iterative process.  Having teammates specializing in the four Penn State AE disciplines allowed major decisions to be made with multiple inputs and opinions, helping us work towards the ultimate goal of finding solutions that maximally benefited each aspect of the design.             
 
While building system coordination and constructability issues create additional design challenges, I have found that they often result in the most unique and innovative solutions.  I am much more comfortable discussing my own engineering design when I understand how it impacts, and hopefully enhances, the other building systems and architecture.  As we are encouraged to break down barriers between engineering disciplines, it is apparent that BIM/IPD and its software are critical to achieving this.  

Lastly, I learned the importance of being able to communicate ideas effectively.  Communication throughout the design process ensures that the team is working towards a unified vision.  With the design completed, selling the design to a panel of judges required condensing the work of two semesters into a one-hour presentation.  We strived to create a dynamic presentation that told a story, rather than simply showing images and backup information.  In the end, I felt that we had a strong design and presented it well, and I appreciate the hard work of my teammates in getting us to that point.  I would also like to thank the faculty and professionals who provided guidance along the way.    

Progress
 
04-27-2014 | CPEP Complete
04-21-2014 | Reflections Posted
04-21-2014 | Building Abstract
03-28-2014 | Final Presentation
02-17-2014 | Competition Report
02-10-2014 | 100% Report
01-27-2014 | 95% Report
12-14-2013 | Draft Report
12-11-2013 | Presentation 4
12-09-2013 | Lutron Presentation
11-12-2013 | Draft Report
10-09-2013 | Presentation 3
09-18-2013 | Presentation 2
09-04-2013 | Presentation 1
09-02-2013 | CPEP Launched

Note: While great efforts have been taken to provide accurate and complete information on the pages of CPEP, please be aware that the information contained herewith is considered a work‐inprogress for this thesis project. Modifications and changes related to the original building designs and construction methodologies for this senior thesis project are solely the interpretation of AEVITAS. Changes and discrepancies in no way imply that the original design contained errors or was flawed. Differing assumptions, code references, requirements, and methodologies have been incorporated into this thesis project; therefore, investigation results may vary from the original design.

The Capstone Project Electronic Portfolio (CPEP) is a web-based project and information center. It contains material produced for a year‐long Senior Thesis class. Its purpose, in addition to providing central storage of individual assignments, is to foster communication and collaboration between student, faculty consultant, course instructors, and industry consultants. This website is dedicated to the research and analysis conducted via guidelines provided by the Department of Architectural Engineering. For an explanation of this capstone design course and its requirements click here.

This page was last updated on April 27, 2014 by the AEVITAS design team and is hosted by the Penn State AE Department ©2013