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Congratulations to SBS lab member Julia Ho on becoming the first Penn State student selected for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Innovation in Buildings (IBUILD) Graduate Research Fellowship. Julia’s research focuses improving modeling and design of low-carbon heating and cooling systems. She will use this fellowship to evaluate the feasibility of low-carbon heating and cooling for rural communities using advanced modeling tools such as Modelica. More information can be found here.
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Congratulations to SBS lab member Viswanathan Ganesh on passing his Ph.D. comprehensive exam. His research focuses on building-to-grid integration and its application to data centers. As part of this research, he has developed new Modelica models for induction motors and is in the process of releasing these to the open source Modelica Buildings Library. Viswanathan joins several of our lab members who have recently passed their Ph.D, comprehensive exams.
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Congratulations to SBS lab member Rosina Adhikari on passing her Ph.D. comprehensive exam. Her research is focused on addressing challenges in climate resilience and building decarbonization with specific emphasis on low-income communities. She has worked on multiple U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and National Science Foundation (NSF) projects. She has also published several conference papers. Rosina joins several of our lab members who have recently passed their Ph.D, comprehensive exams.
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An efficient smart and connected community (SCC) depends on the interconnectivity of essential infrastructure systems. However, current modeling tools cannot determine which interconnections are most important to include, particularly as system dynamics become more complex with high-order effects.
As a joint effort of current and former SBS Lab Ph.D. students Saranya Anbarasu, Kathryn Hinkelman, and Jing Wang, our new paper in the Journal of Energy and Buildings proposes a comprehensive framework that incorporates multi-layers, multi-blocks, and multi-agents to model interdependent infrastructure systems. Interconnections span cyber, physical, and logical aspects, including human interactions. With the equation-based object-oriented language Modelica, we model energy, transportation, communication, and water systems for a hypothetical SCC and assess higher-order interdependency effects during normal operation. Additionally, we develop a quasi-Monte Carlo sensitivity analysis framework and use variance-based sensitivity metrics to assess the impact of interdependencies on energy system operation.
This paper can be accessed freely until September 5, 2024 at this link.
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Lab Professor Wangda Zuo participated in a joint session at the “Symposium on Accelerating Science, Technology and Circular Innovation in Southeast Asia: Smart Cities Innovation, Biotechnology, and Circularity” in Vientiane, Laos. He held this session with our Indonesian collaborators Rachmawan Budiarto from Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM) and Donny Koerniawan from Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) about our Smart Garden Alley and Net Zero Carbon Community (NZCC) projects in Makassar, Indonesia. They presented on July 19, 2024. This symposium was a great opportunity to share ideas with our colleagues in the ASEAN region. It is great progress in renewable energy, waste management, sustainable agriculture, and smart transportation being made by researchers and entrepreneurs.
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The 1st International Conference of Net Zero Carbon Built Environment began at the University of Nottingham. It is running from July 3 – 5, 2024. The conference has more than 200 delegates and will be a great opportunity to learn and have great discussions.
This conference is supported by Pennsylvania State University as well as University of Nottingham, University of Adelaide, Technical University of Crete, Center for Postdoctoral development in Infrastructure, Cities, and Energy, Department for Energy Security & Net Zero, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. We are happy to have SBS lab professor Wangda Zuo serving as co-chair alongside Prof. Yupeng Wu (University of Nottingham), Prof. Veronica Soebarto (University of Adelaide), and Prof. Dionysia Kolokotsa (Technical University of Crete). We are excited to learn more from our peers around the globe at this conference and look forward to future conferences. We appreciate all the people who worked hard to put on this amazing conference.
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Congratulations to Professor Zuo on receiving the prestigious Exceptional Service Award at the 2024 Annual Conference. We appreciate the ASHRAE community and all the opportunities our lab members have had. Prof. Zuo served as the Chair of Technical Committee 4.10 and 7.4 and participated in several others. Congratulations to Prof. Zuo on receiving this amazing award and thank you ASHRAE for the recognition and amazing support.
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SBS Lab Member Kathryn Hinkelman Receives the 2024 Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar Award at Pennsylvania State University. Prof. Zuo had the honor of accepting the award on her behalf. Dr. Hinkelman’s interdisciplinary research develops sustainable, resilient, and equitable energy systems through advanced modeling and simulation and bio-inspired design. Her research innovation and productivity, funding achievements, and dedication to mentoring students led to her selection as the 2024 Outstanding Postdoctoral Scholar. She will join the Department of Environmental Engineering at the University of Vermont as an Assistant Professor in Fall of 2024.
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SBS Lab Member and Ph.D. candidate Yizhi Yang won the Borda Graduate Scholarship in Honor of Gifford H. Albright – Scholarly Excellence in Architectural Engineering. The award notice says “the Architectural Engineering Department recognizes your exceptional ability and promise for significant future achievement in architectural engineering research. Your hard work and dedication is an inspiration to other Graduate Students.” We are so excited to see our lab members winning awards that recognize their hard work and effort in the world of architectural engineering and building energy modeling.
Yizhi’s Ph.D. research attempts to unravel the nexus of energy consumption, carbon emission, and energy equity in buildings. Her research is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). Yizhi has also published several journal and conference papers. To learn more about Yizhi and her research, visit here.
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Prof. Zuo was honored with the opportunity to give a keynote at the IBPSA-Ireland Research Symposium. This is a great honor and exciting to see so many students attending. We are thankful to our Irish collaborators and colleagues for organizing the event and sending their students to the symposium. There were a lot of students using Modelica in their research which is exciting to see. Prof. Zuo was also able to serve as a juror for the “Best Thesis in 3 Presentation”. We are excited to see so many great theses and congratulate everyone on their amazing work. We are looking forward to seeing everyone again and future potential collaborations
