Architectural

Engineering

Spring
2014

A Message from
Dear Alumni & Friends,
The Spring semester was a very busy one with preparations for an
accreditation visit by ABET in the Fall, candidate visits for the open
faculty positions in the Department, and finalization of the
Departments Strategic Plan. All of these were on top of the usual
student-centered activities, alumni events, Spring IPAC meeting,
innovative teaching and learning, ground-breaking research, and
senior thesis presentations. This newsletter covers many of these
activities, with the following as some of the highlights:

Our alumni continue to do us proud by receiving numerous professional recognitions for their outstanding work
and leadership roles in the profession (see pages 4-5). Of particular note is William S. Moyer BAE 79, who was
named an Outstanding Engineering Alumnus for 2014;
Our research in virtual design and construction using the Immersive Construction (ICon) Lab remains at the
leading edge, contributing to sustainable building design and construction (see page 7);
Our faculty and staff received a number of recognitions for their work. Amongst these, Kevin Parfitt was promoted
to Full Professor (see page 9);
The Department hosted two excellent distinguished lectures The Raymond Bowers Distinguished Lecture (given
by Luke Leung of SOM, Chicago see page 8), and the Marvin J. Kudroff Memorial Lecture (given by Prof.
Geoffrey Shen of Hong Kong Polytechnic University see page 12);
The final Senior Thesis presentations before a high caliber industry jury continued to raise the bar, with the top
students and student teams winning major prizes (see pages 10-11);
Our students remain national champions by winning top honors in the 2014 ASCE Charles Pankow Foundation
Architectural Engineering National Student Competition (see page 11);
Strong student-industry interaction remains a key element of the AE program, with the annual Washington DC
Trip, participation in the annual International Builders Show in Aurora CO, site visits, and participation in industryoriented competitions (see pages 13-14);
The Department has recruited three new faculty to start in Fall 2014 Dr. Somayeh Asadi (Construction Option),
Dr. Donghyun Rim (Mechanical Option) and Dr. Aly Said (Structures Option). Their profiles will be included in the
next newsletter.

You have continued to support the program over the past year (see page 15) and we are most grateful for this. This is
enabling us to make enhancements to the program and to improve the quality of our students experience.
Please feel free to stop by when you are next in the State College area. I will be pleased to show you around the
Department and outline our plans to keep the AE program moving forward.
Sincerely,

Chimay J. Anumba, FREng, Ph.D., DSc., Dr.h.c., P.E.

AE Department Head

On the cover: A group observes a 3-D demonstration in architectural engineerings ICon Lab. (article on page 7)

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A E N e w s l e t t e r Sp r in g 2 0 14

AE Alumni News
ALUMNI NEWS
1960s
Kenneth Gibble 61 president, GNCB
Consulting Engineers, PC in Old Saybrook,
CT.

1970s
Douglas Donovan 74 BAE, 80 MSAE
Penn State Office of the Physical Plant
(retired).
Lynn Vollenhove Cass 74 senior
project manager with Rosendin Electric
(retired). After 39-plus years in the
industry I have elected to retire and begin
the next phase of my life. It seems that
only yesterday in Professional Practice,
Professor Herbert Wheeler was telling us
that for the next 40 years of our lives....Hi
to everyone from the Class of 1974.
David Braskey 77 project manager with
Jacobs in Conshohocken, PA. Project
manager for the design of pharmaceutical
manufacturing and laboratory projects.

1980s
Keith Robert Bush 86 senior vice
president with the Truland Group, an
electrical design builder in Reston, VA.
Responsible for project development.
David T. Simmons 83 senior vice
president with American Bridge Company,
a heavy civil construction company located
in Richmond, VA.
Kevin Potter 85 senior project manager
with Jones Lang LaSalle in West Point, PA.
Owner representative to pharmaceutical
client account responsible for project
development and delivery. Team lead for
infrastructure and energy sustainability
projects. Retired Navy Civil Engineer Corps
officer, Operation Desert Storm and
Enduring Freedom deployments.
Currently live in Glenside, PA, with wife
Ellen.
Kyle Krall 87 was promoted to director,
Thornton Tomasetti Ltd., UK subsidiary.
Doug Walker 87 structural engineer IV
with HII-Ingalls Shipbuilding in
Pascagoula, MS. Responsibilities include
equipment foundation design
modifications, superstructure and hull
structure modifications, and outfitting and
stowage design modifications.

1990s
Paula J. (Schendler) Dombrowski 93
project manager with Schaefer, a
structural engineering consulting firm in
Cincinnati, OH.

Matthew Lausch 96 senior fire alarm

design specialist with M.C. Dean a designbuild electrical contractor located in
Dulles, VA. Responsibilities include fire
alarm cost estimating, design/engineering,
testing and commissioning.
Dorene Maniccia 90 senior project
leader with Philips in Burlington, MA.
Responsibilities include applications and
technology research for the development
of advanced lighting systems.
Kathleen (Scholz) Hauser 95
instructor in engineering mechanics minor
at Penn State Berks campus.
W. David Featherman 92 senior
consultant with Sapere Consulting, Inc. in
Los Gatos, CA. Completed a master of
public policy degree at the University of
California, Berkeley in December 2013.
Shayna (Collins)
Bramley 99g and
Jonathan Bramley
Penn State LEEDS
Exchange Student 97,
are excited to announce
the birth of their fourth
little Nittany Lion, Zoe
Grace, born July 9,
2013. Zoe was welcomed to the family by
big brother Will, 8; Sean, 7; and big sister
Amanda, 5. Shayna (PE, LC, LEED AP,
CEM, CBCP, MAE, MBA) currently works
for RAB Lighitng in Northvale, NJ, as the
director of training and recently became
certified as an AGi32 lighting software
trainer! Jonathan owns his own
engineering consulting firm focusing on
commercial projects in the DC/Philly/NYC
market.

2000s
Tracey Nawrocki Jumper 05
commissioning specialist, principal with
Keystone Commissioning Group in WilkesBarre, PA.
Tom Ciccarelli 02 project director with
Allied Building Corporation in Bethlehem,
PA.
Jered Widmer 00 was promoted to
associate principal at the Lighting Practice
in Philadelphia, PA.
Jonathan Walker 09 electrical
engineer/lighting designer with Reese
Engineering in State College, PA.
Tomothy Park 07 project manager with
structural engineering consulting firm
Ellinwood Machado in Arlington, VA.

Ryan Sickman 03 principal in the sports

architecture sector for AECOM in Kansas
City, MO.
Liliana Sterba 01 electrical engineer
with CFR Engineering in Gaithersburg, MD.
Brian Ault, 08 engineer with Scheeser
Buckley Mayfield, a consulting engineering
firm in Uniontown, OH.
Michelle Murosky, P.E. 03 is now a
portfolio energy manager at Jones Lang
LaSalle in Chicago, IL.
Alyssa Wingenfield, P.E. 09 is a
project development engineer with
McClure Company in Harrisburg, PA
James Gawthrop 09 mechanical
engineer with Summer Consultants, Inc. in
McLean, VA. Responsibilities include
designing mechanical systems for
buildings, applying BIM to projects,
energy and loads modeling, performing
lifecycle cost analyses, providing
sustainability analysis, conducting on-site
energy and system audits and surveys.
Christine Brazill 04 president of Aspire
Engineering, a MEP consulting engineering
firm located in Fairfax, VA.
Anthony Perrotta 08 structural
designer with ProCon, Inc. a design-build
firm in Manchester, NH. Responsible for
structural drafting using Revit for
commercial construction projects.
Brian Raff 01 director of marketing with
CanamStructal Heavy Steel Construction
a heavy steel fabrication firm located in
Deerfield, IL.

2010s
Michael Payne 12 facility engineering
consultant/staff engineer with Facility
Engineering Associates in Fairfax, VA.
Responsible for assessment, design and
consultation for repair and restoration of
existing buildings. Got married to Kayla
Heck 11 EMS on June 28, 2014, in State
College, PA.
Angela Santana 11 is a lighting
designer with CM Kling & Associates in
Alexandria, VA.
Daniel McGee 13 mechanical engineer
with SmithGroupJJR in Washington, D.C.
Responsibilities include HVAC design.
Brittany Muth 10 construction project
engineer with ISEC, Inc. in New Orleans,
LA. Responsibilities include submittals,
man power loading schedules, change

AE Newsletter

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Page 3

Alumni Honors
ASAE Early Career Impact Award
Natalie Bryner (09 BAE/
MAE) was the recipient of the
first Alumni Society of
Architectural Engineering
(ASAE) Early Career Impact
Award. Dr. Jonathan
Dougherty, ASAE president,
presented the award to
Natalie on May 2 at the AE
Senior Thesis Awards Banquet
(left). The award was made
possible through a grant from of the Penn State Engineering
Alumni Society (PSEAS). The award was established to annually
honor and recognize an alumnus of Penn States Department of
Architectural Engineering in the early stages of his or her career.
Awardees must have demonstrated outstanding technical
expertise in the AEC industry; shown outstanding potential for
continued success in their field; and have made a significant
contribution to the field of architectural engineering.
This award allows ASAE to continue its mission of encouraging
the sustained interest and professional development of all
graduates of the AE department, while specifically highlighting
the significant contributions of young alumni. The hope is that
these young alumni will remain engaged with the AE department
and ASAE. By focusing the award on career experience and
industry leadership; community service and involvement; service
to the AE Department; and potential for continued success, this is
a broad reaching and significant award.
Prior to the establishment of this award, the AE department did
not have a mechanism to recognize young alumni, and this award
bridges that gap.

Volunteer of the Year Award

Dr. Jonathan Dougherty 02, 06g director, Corporate
Knowledge Center for James G. Davis Construction
in Rockville, MD, is the 2014 recipient of the Penn
State Alumni Associations Kay and Ernie Salvino
Volunteer of the Year Award. The award recognizes
an individual who has provided exemplary service
to the Penn State Alumni Association..
Jonathan has been a member of the Penn State
Engineering Alumni Society (PSEAS) since 2012, and is a
founding member and president of the Architectural Engineering
Alumni Society. In addition, he serves on the AE Industrial and
Professional Advisory Council and as a regular member of the AE
senior thesis jury. In 2013, PSEAS recognized him with the
Distinguished Service Award.
At Penn State Wilkes-Barre, he has been an advisory board
member since 2004. He also serves as an alumni mentor and
guest lecturer, and was the 2013 commencement speaker.
A life member of the PSAA, Dougherty represents the Penn State
Club of Wyoming Valley in the homecoming parade as "The
Button Man," wearing a coat adorned with hundreds of Penn
State football buttons dating back to 1972.

Alumni Spotlight
David Kaneda 81 PE, FAIA, LEED AP BD+C,
CEng, Eur Ing is a managing principal of Integral
Group, a MEP consulting, energy modeling firm in
San Jose, CA. He is responsible for developing
cutting edge electrical, lighting and daylighting
design concepts for the Integral Group: a 250
person international consulting MEP firm with offices
in the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom.
David shares his in-depth knowledge with various public and
private advisory boards, and has contributed to programs for the
US Department of Energy and the California Energy Commissions
Public Interest Energy Research program. He has played a vital
role in several award-winning lighting design projects and has
been recognized by the National Register of Peer Professionals.
David is often sought after as a presenter and has delivered
various presentations on sustainable electrical design at
conferences and universities throughout North America.
In 2014, David Kaneda was elevated to the College of Fellows by
the American Institute of Architects for his contributions to the
industry in developing concepts for designing deep green,
sustainable electrical, lighting and daylighting systems and net
zero energy buildings.
His portfolio includes 15 LEED platinum certified buildings, 5
American Institute of Architects Committee on the Environment
top 10 winners, 7 Illuminating Engineering Society of North
America Illumination Design Awards and 2 International Living
Future Institute certified net zero energy buildings and dozens
more net zero energy building designs. He also advises several
federal and California state organizations on sustainability and
energy efficiency issues and in his spare time has coached his
children and several of their teammates to positions on the U.S.
junior karate team.
Michael Cherock, P.E. 02, started his career in
the U.S. Navy as a nuclear trained power plant
operator aboard fast-attack submarines. In 2007,
just prior to the recession, he founded AE Works,
a Center for Veterans Enterprise-verified servicedisabled veteran-owned small business in the
basement of his Pittsburgh home. Fast-forward
seven years, that same firm is a team of 31 working in three
locations.
With over 20 years devoted to upgrading and designing new
electrical systems, Michaels project experience ranges from
sustainable energy assessments and specialized healthcare
facilities to mission critical telecom and security design. His
leadership has translated into the firms recognition on the 2013
Inc. 5000 list as well as a 2013 Pittsburgh 100 firm, one of the
fastest growing companies in Western Pennsylvania for two years
running. Most recently, Michael was recognized as the 2014
Pennsylvania Small Business Person of the Year.
Michael is active in the community and his technical profession.
He has served on the Centennial Board for the Soldiers and
Sailors Museum in Pittsburgh, acted as the technical resource for
Pittsburghs LED street lighting project and most recently served
on the Pittsburgh, Mayoral Transition Team, as the co-chair for
the Subcommittee on Performance Management, and Innovation.
At AE Works, he has created an environment where people can
make a difference by engaging with one another, local
communities and their craft architecture and engineering.

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A E N e w s l e t t e r Sp r i ng 2 0 1 4

Alumni Honors
2014 Outstanding Engineering Alumni
Willam S. Moyer 79 was a recipient of the 2014
Outstanding Engineering Alumni Award at a
ceremony held on campus on April 22. The award
recognizes graduates who have reach exception
levels of professional achievement. Established in
1966, the award is the highest honor bestowed by
the College of Engineering.

Alumni News

..continued from page 3

orders, RFIs, purchasing materials/delivery.

Logan Gray 12 engineer-structural designer with H.F. Lenz, a
multidisciplinary engineering firm located in Johnstown, PA.
Josh Wentz 12 is now software integration lead at U.S. DOE
Energy Efficient Buildings HUB in Philadelphia, PA.
Nick Zitterbart 13 is a project engineer at Barton Malow
Company in Southfield, MI.

He is currently the executive vice president at James G. Davis

Construction (DAVIS) in Rockville, MD.

Britnei Godusky 11 is an electrical engineer with

SmithGroupJJR in Washington, D.C.

Bill Moyer attended Penn State and graduated in 1979 from the
architectural engineering program with a bachelors degree in the
construction management option.

Haitham Alrasbi 13 is working with W.S. Atkins located in

Wadi Adi in Muscat, Oman.

Following graduation he joined Whiting-Turner Construction

Company, and in1984 he moved to DAVIS. As executive vice
president of DAVIS, and one of the three managing principals, Bill
has managed many of DAVIS most challenging projects. His
greatest strength lies in his ability to develop a team approach to
design and construction, while managing challenging schedules
and strict budgets. Bills competence in these areas has
contributed to the firms industry reputation as the build-to-suit
and headquarters contractor. With over 30 years of experience,
he is known for identifying problems early and finding creative
cost effective solutions.
Since 1990, James Davis, Dennis Cotter, and William Moyer have
been the primary leaders of DAVIS. Their guidance, dedication,
and fortitude have provided DAVIS the strength required to be
one of the top general contractors in the Washington, D.C.
metropolitan area. Under their guidance, the companys revenue
has grown from $60 million in 1990 to over $800 million annually.

Steven Ayer 08, 13g assistant professor, Arizona State

University, in the Del E. Webb School of Construction.

Alumni Honors

2014.

continued from page 4

Christopher Crilly, P.E., LEED AP 04 B.A.E./

M.A.E. received the Rising Star Award from the
Structure Engineers Association of Metro Washington. He was recognized at the Excellence in Structural Engineering Awards Gala held on Feb. 22,

Chris is currently a senior project engineer with Thornton Tomasetti. He is a LEED accredited professional in building design
and construction and a registered California emergency management agency safety assessment program evaluator. He also
co-authored Going Deep, an article on top-down construction
of the Washington Marriott Marquis featured in the July 2013
edition of Modern Steel Construction.

Outside of his highly successful business activities, Bill is actively

involved with the Penn State Partnership for Achieving
Construction Excellence (PACE), an industry/university
partnership focused on education, research and collaboration.
While serving on the PACE advisory board, Bill recently received
the Excellence Award in recognition for his commitment to
construction management education and research. He is also an
inductee in the PACE Construction Hall of Fame. In addition to his
commitments to Penn State, Bill is also involved with several
other universities, serving on advisory boards and research
affiliates programs.
Bill is an excellent role model and mentor for the architectural
engineering students and he is well respected by our faculty and
staff. We are very pleased that he has been named a 2014
Outstanding Engineering Alumnus.
Bill lives in Mount Airy, MD, with his wife Juli and daughter
Lauren. They also have a son, Tyler (07 Behrend), who works at
DAVIS.

Andrea Wilkerson 13g and Michal Royer 08, 11g were

spotted manning an exhibition booth at the June 2014 Lightfair
International Conference in Las Vegas, NV. Both earned their
doctoral degrees under the supervision of Prof. Kevin Houser
and are now part of the Advanced Lighting Team at Pacific
Northwest National Laboratory, a U.S. Department of Energy
laboratory, where their work focuses on solid-state lighting.
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Department News
Student Immersive Summer Experience

Ernest E. Howard Award

This summer, Penn State students are participating in a program

that couples hands-on coursework with internship experiences at
the GridSTAR Center, which is a smart grid educational and operational research center that is part of the architectural engineering
department, located at the Navy Yard in Philadelphia. Set in a
unique learning environment, this program demonstrates an innovative and sustainable approach to providing engaged scholarship
and undergraduate research experiences in key sustainability top- Emeritus Professor Louis Geschwindner, Ph.D., P.E., M.ASCE
was the recipient of the 2014 Ernest E. Howard Award sponsored
ics.
by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). The award
The program offers an internship component comprised of a 12recognizes a member of the society who has made a definite conweek, 20 hours/week, or 300-hour internship in which students
tribution to the advancement of structural engineering through
are matched with leading regional energy and sustainability firms research, planning, design, or construction. Dr. Geschwindner was
or research teams in the following areas:
a faculty member at Penn State for more than 40 years, teaching
a full range of structural analysis and design courses. He has pub Sustainable Business: Corporate Sustainability Management,
Corporation Design, Cooperatives, Sustainable Business Prac- lished books on structural analysis and structural steel design and
is active in writing and presenting continuing education programs
tices, and Sustainability Leadership
Energy: Energy Management, Energy Auditing Practices, Dis- for the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC). As vice
president of AISC, he helped develop the standard specification
tributed Energy Systems, and Facilities Management
for steel buildings, ANSI/AISC 360, and the companion Manual of
Research: Building Energy Efficiency, Combined Heat and
Steel Construction, as well as all technical activities of the Institute
Power, Renewable Energy and Microgrid Applications
including expansion of its research and continuing education proIn addition, students will maintain a coursework component which grams.
The award was presented to Dr. Geschwindner at the Structures
includes the following three-credit courses:
Congress 2014, in Boston, MA on Apr. 3, 2014. Pictured above
EDSGN 497 - Sustainability Leadership Projects
from left to right are: Satish Nagarajaiah,Technical Activities Divi BUS 497 - Cornerstones of Sustainability
sion Executive Committee of ASCE; Louis Geschwindner; and Don
AE 469 - Solar PV Design and Construction
Dusenberry, president of the SEI of ASCE Board of Governors.
Directed by AE Associate Professor Dr. David Riley, the Grid
Smart Training and Application Resource (GridSTAR) Center was
created to develop and deliver responsive professional and skilled
workforce educational programming that is aligned with the caliber and pace of emerging smart grid investments and markets.
Bill Valentine, program manager assists with the development of
the test area at the Navy Yard, and Zoha Memari is the energy
education program coordinator at the Navy Yard. Elizabeth Resenic is the communications coordinator and also facilitated organizing this years internship program.
The Immersive Leadership Experience is a pilot work study program engaging Penn State students representing multiple disciplines from several regional campuses. This program is made pos- AE CAREER FAIR 2014
The next AE Career Fair will be held on Sep. 23, 2014 at the Bryce
sible through funding from the Department of Energy, GridSTAR
Jordan Center. Registration details are available on-line at:
Center, the Reinvention Fund and a grant from the BNY Mellon
www.engr.psu.edu/ae/job_placement/index.asp
Foundation.

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Focus on Research
ICon Lab essential to
sustainable building design
By Katie Jacobs, Penn State News
The Immersive Construction Lab (ICon
Lab for short) at Penn States University
Park campus looks deceptively simple.
A three-paneled screen faces a room of
lined-up tables. The lights dim and a
computer whirs to life, projecting an
image of an avatar onto the screen a
girl with dark hair standing on grass in
front of a two-story brick building. With a
click of the mouse, she starts to walk and
explores the building room by room
and shes taking everyone in the
ICon Lab with her.

organizations are helping the University

conduct research.
The Center for Building Energy Science
and Engineering is being transformed into
a tech-savvy, best practice model that will
showcase the energy efficient innovations
made possible through retrofit
technologies.
Additional roofing insulation was added to
increase thermal resistance keeping
warm air from escaping in the winter or
coming in during the summer. Special
attention was also paid to daylight
harvesting, which means daylight
sensors are used to automatically dim or

Here, put these on, said John

Messner, professor of
architectural engineering and
manager of the ICon Lab. They
let the tracking system follow
whoevers wearing them.
Hes holding a pair of 3-D glasses
with a few additions poking
out from the frames are several
short black spokes with small
white spheres at the end. They
make the wearer look decidedly
bug-like, but they also make the
ICon Lab even more immersive.
While wearing the special
glasses, users can directly
interact with the simulation,
taking the experience from a 3-D video to
interactive virtual reality. They can lean
over railings or bend to peer under a
table, and the sensor will pick up the
movements, adjusting the view on the
screens accordingly.
Messner is virtually exploring a model of
the Center for Building Energy Science
and Engineering located almost 200 miles
away in the Navy Yard in Philadelphia.
The avatar follows his directions as he
leads her up the stairs and into a virtual
conference room.
The building was built in 1942 as a
recreation facility for the young sailors
headed to World War II, but is now being
retrofitted to become the headquarters
for the Consortium for Building Energy
Innovation (CBEI). The consortium is
comprised of 14 organizations, including
Penn State, that are striving to transform
the energy efficiency market for small and
medium sized commercial buildings. Penn
State leads CBEI, and the partner

each location can view the same model at

the same time. Throughout the design
process, the ICon labs at both locations
were used to display interactive,
navigable models for team members to
review. Craig Dubler, building information
modeling (BIM) manager at Penn State,
said the lab was invaluable during the
Center for Building Energy Science and
Engineerings design process.
Im based here at University Park, so I
couldnt physically be in Philadelphia
during design reviews. I used the ICon
Lab here to dial into the one in The Navy
Yard and was able to see everything they
were in real-time, says Dubler.
Its the same amount of
collaboration while saving a lot of
time and travel dollars.
The ICon Lab works by projecting
BIM files from a computer onto
the screen in 3-D. A BIM file is a
digital representation of the
physical and functional
characteristics of a place, often a
building. Dubler describes BIM
files as geometry combined with
information not only can you
virtually explore the building, you
can also click on, say, a electrical
switchgear and get the specific
dimensions and instructions for
construction.

turn off lights when natural light is

available.
To further reduce electricity use, rooms
were strategically placed according to
their lighting needs. Offices, for example,
were put on higher floors where natural
light is more abundant, while restrooms
and the Navy Yards own ICon Lab (a
sister lab to the one at University Park
that will be moved to the completed
building) were placed in areas without a
lot of light.
Both the University Park and the Navy
Yard labs were used in the design process
for the Center for Building Energy Science
and Engineering.
The ICon Lab presents the opportunity to
get a really immersive experience, says
Messner. Instead of looking at a simple
floor plan, you can get the team really
engaged in the design, and the more you
get everyone engaged, the better
feedback you can get.

Virtually walking through the

models with the ICon Lab lets us fix
problems before theyre actually made,
said Dubler. If were exploring the model
and see that the cabinets are in the
wrong place, we can move them before
theyre built. Its a lot easier and cheaper
to fix these problems before the
construction process.
In addition to CBEI in Philadelphia, the
University Park ICon Lab also has had a
wide influence at University Park. Its
been involved in creating the Stuckeman
Family Building, the new Health and
Human Development Building and the
Millennium Science Complex, and
architectural engineering students use it
to build their own projects.
To learn more about CBEI, visit
http://cbei.psu.edu. To learn more about
the Universitys ICon Lab, go to
http://bim.psu.edu/icon. For more stories
about IT at Penn State, visit Current at
http://current.it.psu.edu.

The two labs can be synced so people at

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Page 7

Department News
Bowers Program Distinguished Lecture
Luke Leung, P.E., LEED Fellow was the keynote
speaker for the Raymond A. Bowers program
distinguished lecture that was held at the Nittany
Lion Inn on May 1. The topic of his lecture was
"Master Integrators A New Role in a New World
for Architects/Engineers."
A graduate of the Penn State architectural
engineering program, Leung, received his B.A.E. in 1987, and
M.S. degree in 1990.
He is currently the director of the Sustainable Engineering Studio
for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP. His work includes several
of the tallest buildings in the world including: Nanjing Greenland
Tower, Burj Khalifa and Jin Mao. The range of his work includes
district scale integration with Chicago Lakeside, the LG Art Hall,
one of the first displacement performing arts centers in the
world, to the Burj Khalifa, the worlds tallest man-made
structure. He also developed Sky Sourced Sustainability, how
to use the sky to make tall buildings more sustainable.

IPAC
The AE Industrial and Professional Advisory Council (IPAC)
meetings were held in the College of Engineering on March 2627. The theme for this years meeting was Strengthening the AE
Graduate Program. The group held a roundtable meeting with
current graduate students as well as a plenary session to develop
further strategies.
Also included in this years meetings were discussions on
industrial trends, an update from the AE alumni group ASAE,
meetings with the faculty, staff, and students, as well as
breakout sessions focusing on curriculum and development in
the AE department.

Leung is actively involved with numerous professional

organizations. He is an AE Centennial Fellow, a LEED Fellow, five
time recipient of the Excellence in Engineering award from the
American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning
Engineers (ASHRAE) Illinois chapter; and two-time winner of
ASHRAEs Regional Technology Award. He was also on the
editorial board for Natural Ventilation for High-Rise Office
Buildings and currently writing Metrics, Monitoring, Modeling
and Measurements in Tall Buildings for the Council on Tall
Buildings and Urgan Habitat, among other publications.
Established in 1994, the Bowers Program encourages
interdisciplinary programming and projects to expose students to
professional practice and the industry.

L-R Bottom: Russell Sykes, Roberta Liss, William

Weinaug. Middle Row: Michael Harrison, Herbert Duffield ,
Chimay Anumba, Zach Zaharewicz. Top Row: Brian
Dauskurdas, Glenn Bell, Tim Carr, Ted Lynch, Ray Sowers

Messner Named Charles and Elinor Matts Professor

Dr. John Messner, has been named the new Charles and Elinor Matts Professor in Architectural Engineering.
The Matts professorship was established in 2007 through the generous gift of Charles Matts 56 and his wife,
Elinor, to be used by a scholar for the purposes of research expenditures, education, graduate assistantships and
travel expenses. Charles Matts is the retired co-founder and president of Schick Matts Corporation. A long-time
friend of the AE department, Matts was named an Outstanding Engineering Alumnus in 2006. He has also served as
a member of the AE senior thesis jury.
Dr. Messner came to Penn State in 2001 with over ten years experience as an engineer and project manager in several high-level
construction firms in the building industry. His professional experience in managing large-scale development and construction projects has enabled him to bring practical, real-world experiences to the construction option students in the AE program.
Dr. Messner serves as the director of the Computer Integrated Construction research program at Penn State. Through a three-year
collaborative engineering education grant from the National Science Foundation, he was also able to build a new immersive display
system laboratory to develop a virtual construction simulator for interactive educational case studies in full-scale virtual facility prototypes (VFP). The innovative Immersive Construction Lab is described in further detail in an article on page 7 of this issue.
His research interests are primarily in the area of advanced visualization technologies to improve project design and construction
education through the use of VFP. He is a diligent and productive contributor to the body of knowledge related to his discipline. He
is very highly regarded internationally and has been an active member of a variety of professional societies and committees. He is
also actively engaged as a task leader in the $129 million DOE-funded Innovation Hub for Energy Efficient Buildings.

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A E N e w s l e t t e r Sp r in g 2 0 14

Faculty/Staff News
Faculty/Staff Awards and Honors
M. Kevin Parfitt was
promoted to professor
effective July 2014. He joined
the AE department in 1981 as
an instructor. He began his
tenure track faculty
appointment in 1988, and was
granted tenure at the rank of
associate professor in 1994.
One of his primary responsibilities is teaching
the fifth-year AE engineering capstone
project courses. Parfitt also created and
manages the AE Career Fair now in its 21st
year. He has received virtually every
teaching, advising and student advocacy
award available in the College of
Engineering. At the University level, Parfitt
was named a Penn State Teaching Fellow in
2011, the only AE and one of only five
College of Engineering faculty at University
Park ever to receive this recognition.

High Flying Adventure

On May 15, assistant professor Paul Bowers and
his 89-year-old father Rodney Bowers embarked on
an epic adventure. They
flew from the Atlantic
Ocean to the Pacific Ocean
and back again in Rodneys
Cessna 150 airplane. Both
registered pilots, Rodney
flew the Atlantic to Pacific
leg, and Paul flew the entire return trip for a bucket list item they dubbed: Ultimate
Cross Country. Paul, said We have flown together over the years, but never a trip
of this magnitude.
Along with scheduled stops, they experienced some down-time due to bad weather,
during which they were able to enjoy some of the local cuisine and culture. They
were also able to visit with several family members on their way across the country.
In the Dallas-Fort Worth area, Rodney tried his hand at riding a mechanical bull,
while Paul opted for the live version!

On April 3, the College held

the annual Penn State
Engineering Alumni Society
Awards Ceremony at Kunkle
Activities Center on campus.
Associate professor Linda
Hanagan was a recipient of
the Outstanding Advising
Award.

New Faculty/Staff
We are pleased to welcome
new AE staff member
Christina Decoteau. She
serves as our undergraduate
program staff assistant. She is
also the bookkeeper for the
Engineering Copy Center.
Robert McNamara was
appointed adjunct professor
in architectural engineering.
He will assist with senior
thesis as well as AEI
competition team advising.
AE administrative support
assistants Susan Shutt (left)
and Nancy Smith (right)
were among faculty and staff
honored for 25years of service
at Penn State. A
ceremony
hosted by the College of
Engineering was held on
campus on April 16.

Throughout the journey, Paul posted pictures and updates to friends and family
members via Facebook. It was a trip of a
lifetime, with a birds-eye-view of amazing
sites across the United States including
eastern forests, expansive Midwest farm
fields, the Mississippi river (left), windturbine and gas and oil fields in Texas,
deserts in Arizona and New Mexico, and
mountain ranges in Nevada and California. The actual flight path (above right)
spanned 13 states.
The father-son duo celebrated the last leg of their great adventure on June 1 over a
cup of coffee at the Airport Diner in Ocean City, NJ. On completing this journey,
Rodney said Whew, I think Ill sleep for a week!

AE Newsletter

S p r in g 2 0 1 4

Page 9

Senior Thesis

AE Senior Thesis Awards

The 2014 Senior Awards and Recognition Banquet (above) was
held on May 2 at the Nittany Lion Inn. The Department of
Architectural Engineering was very pleased to present over
$140,000 in scholarships and awards to deserving AE
undergraduate students. We are extremely grateful for the
phenomenal generosity of our alumni and friends who support
the AE Scholarship and Awards Program each year.

AE Endowed Scholarships
Gladys M. Baird Memorial Scholarship
James W. Bathgate Memorial Scholarship in AE
Clark Construction - Charles A. Merica Memorial Scholarship
Martin Dougherty Memorial Scholarship
Ewing Cole Award
John Flynn Memorial Scholarship
Louis and Judy Geschwindner Endowed Scholarship
Gilbane Building Company Award in Memory of Ralph Petrino
Robert J. McNamara Scholarship
McKamish Family Trustee Scholarships
Vincent L. Pass Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Joseph &
Marlene Borda
Melvin H. Peters Endowed Scholarship
James M. Pohlen Memorial Scholarship
John R. Potter Memorial Scholarship
Franklin Ruth Memorial Scholarship
H.O. Smith Memorial Scholarship
Michael J. and Virginia A. Youchak Scholarship
C. Herbert Wheeler Memorial Scholarship sponsored by Joseph &
Marlene Borda
Sharron E. Williams Memorial Award
Michael J. and Virginia A. Youchak Scholarship

Annual Gift Scholarships

AE Scholarship in Memory of Patrick Zuza
Barton Malow Fellowships
Bechtel Corporation Scholarships
Borda and Fernsler Families Scholarship sponsored by Joseph &
Marlene Borda
BR+A Consulting Engineers Scholarship in Memory of Prof. Jack
Everetts (sponsored by Eugene Bard)
BR+A Consulting Engineers Scholarship in Memory of Prof. Melvin
Isenberg (sponsored by Eugene Bard)
Cagley and Associates Scholarship
Clark Construction Group, Inc. Scholarships
Class of 1975 Scholarship
Herbert Duffield Scholarships
Illuminating Engineering Society - Philadelphia Section Scholarship
Peerless Lighting Scholarship

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A E N e w s l e t t e r Sp r in g 2 0 14

Pittsburgh Builders Exchange Scholarship

Ryan-Biggs Scholarship
Stantec Scholarship
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger, Inc. Scholarship
SmithGroup JJR Scholarship

2014 Award Winners

Beranek AwardMatthew Neal
John J. Brinjac Memorial Award - Outstanding 5 Year
Performance and Record of Study in AE (sponsored by Brinjac
Engineering Inc.) Alyssa Stangl
Cannon Design Outstanding Record of Study in HVAC - 5th year
(sponsored by Cannon Design) Matthew Neal and Nick
Rekstad
Cannon Design Outstanding Performance in Mechanical in the 4th
Year AE Class James Weaver
Project Candle Outstanding Performance in Lighting/Electrical in
the 4th Year AE Class Maggie Golden
James G. Davis Construction - Outstanding Capstone Project
Electronic Portfolio (CPEP) Sikandar Porter-Gill and AEI
Team AEVITAS: Kieran Carlisle, Jonathan Sharp, Drew
Canfield, Abby Kreider, Lara Kaiserian, Robert Livorio,
Alex van Eeden and Kristin Sliwinski
Forrester Construction Ethics Award George Andonie
Hettema Leadership Awards (sponsored by Turner Construction) Aubrey Fulton, Codi Shine, Kevin Barth and Dana Burzo
Holbert Apple Associates - Outstanding Performance in Structures
in the 4th Year AE Class - Adam Jesberger
Michael Horman Memorial AwardSponsored by Hensel Phelps
Ramy Labna
Howard and Callie Kingsbury Award for Excellence in Architectural
Acoustics Jonathan Sharp
Gershon Meckler Memorial Award - Innovative Building
Mechanical System Design (sponsored by Dr. and Mrs. Barry
Weinstein) Nick Rekstadt and Tyler Dietz
Charles A. Merica Award - Clark Const. Group R.J. Fazio
PACE Group - Outstanding Performance in CM - 4th year AE Class
Rachel Sommer
PACE Group - Outstanding Record of Study in CM - 5th year Class
Quaid Spearing
Peerless Lighting Award - Outstanding Record of Study in
Illumination - 5th year Class Reinhardt Swart
Ralph Petrino/Gilbane Building Company Award in AE Masoud
Salloum
PSPE/PEPP - Professional Practice Award John Vais
Thornton Tomasetti - Outstanding Record of Study in Structures 5th year Class Chris Coakley

Senior Honors
AE Seniors Garner Top Honors

This years student competition project challenged students to

address the design, integration, and construction issues that must
A panel of 29 industry professionals met to judge the top eight
fifth-year thesis presentations. In addition, they watched a presen- be considered for a new high profile 30-story high rise office building located at 350 Mission in San Francisco, CA. Special challenges
tation of the first place winning Team for the ASCE Charles
Pankow National Architectural Engineering Student Competition
of the competition this year included making the project a near
reported below. The senior thesis award winners are listed below: net zero energy consumer and a near immediate occupancy strucPSPE/PEPP - Best Overall AE Senior Thesis Reinhardt Swart
ture relative to earthquake activity.
Acuity Brands/Lithonia Lighting - 1st Place Lighting/Electrical TheProfessor Kevin Parfitt, one of the lead advisers for the Penn State
sis in Memory of Mickey Woods Reinhardt Swart
team said, There were numerous comments and feedback from
Barton Malow Co. - 1st Place CM Senior Thesis Kevin Martyn
Cagley & Assoc. - 1st Place Structural Thesis Macenzie Ceglar the jury attesting to the technical strength and depth of analysis
1st Place Mechanical Thesis - sponsored by William Glassmyer
demonstrated by the Penn State AE student teams.
Matthew Neal
Penn State AE teams rose to the top of the finals competition by
Balfour Beatty - 2nd Place CM Senior Thesis Kevin Kroener
nature of being the only school to qualify two teams. The teams
Barton Assoc. - 2nd Place Mechanical Thesis Erin Miller
Barton Assoc. - 2nd Place Lighting/Electrical Thesis John Risser that presented and their respective awards were:
Hope Furrer and Assoc. - 2nd Place Structural Thesis
Team AVANT was the first place winner in the electrical, mechaniSikandar Porter-Gill
cal and structural categories. They also captured the runner up
Southland Industries - Outstanding Senior Thesis in the Area of
award in construction. This team consisted of AE students Tyler
Specialty Construction Lucas Manos
Dietz, Christopher Coakley, Robert Fazio, Katharine Gausseres,
Rebecca Slocum, Nicholas Rekstad, Jordan Miller and Eric Ripkin.

AE Students Capture Top Honors in the 2014 AEI

National Competition

Team AEVITAS won first place in the construction category and

was runner up in both structural and integration. A rendering from
their presentation is shown left. AE students Drew Canfield, Kieran
Carlisle, Alex van Eeden, Lara Kaiserian, Robert Livorio, Jonathan
Sharp and Kristin Sliwinski made up this competition team.
Overall coordination and management for the Penn State teams
was provided by lead faculty advisers, M. Kevin Parfitt, Charles
Cox, and Ryan Solnosky. Additional AE faculty serving as technical
advisors to the students included: Ryan Solnosky (Structural),
John Messner (Construction), Richard Mistrick (Lighting/Electrical),
and Moses Ling (Mechanical).
Looking ahead, the finalist presentations for the next student competition will be held at the Architectural Engineering Institutes 6th
Biennial Professional Conference to be hosted by Milwaukee
School of Engineering on March 24-27, 2015.

Dr. Cox summed up this years event with the following, Our AE
program and the student teams that participated once again set
Two student teams from Penn States Architectural Engineering
the bar very high for the national competition, not only for the
Department were selected to participate in the finals of the Ameriother AE schools, but for the Penn State AE teams that will follow
can Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) Charles Pankow Foundation
next year.
Architectural Engineering National Student Competition in conjuncThe goal of the Charles Pankow Foundation Annual Architectural
tion with the Architectural Engineering Institute (AEI) National
Student Conference held this year at Drexel University on Mar. 28- Engineering Student Design Competition is to provide a unique
29, 2014. The competition is organized annually by AEI and ASCE. venue for students to showcase the value of education in architectural engineering and to encourage collaboration, research, innoPenn State AE students received seven awards overall including
vation, and peer review.
top honors in four of the five submission categories. AE students
won first place awards in the categories of structural, mechanical,
electrical (electrical/lighting) and construction management. Entering the competition for only the second year, Penn State equaled
their outstanding performance from last year when they also won
four of the five categories. Penn State AE students also received
runner up awards in the integration, construction and structural
categories.
AE Newsletter

S p r in g 2 0 1 4

Page 11

Department News
Student Marshal
Alyssa Stangl was
named the class student
marshal to represent AE
in the spring commencement ceremony. She
graduated with an integrated B.A.E/M.A.E. degree from architectural
engineering. She was
presented the Student
Marshal certificate by
Dr. Chimay Anumba at
the scholarship and awards banquet held at the Nittany Lion Inn
on May 2.
She is a past recipient of the 2012 Thornton-Tomasetti Outstanding Performance in the Structures option award; the Sparks
Award; the Evan Pugh Award; and the Presidents Freshman
Award. She was named to the dean's list every semester since
entering the AE program in fact, in the last five years; she never
had a B!!
Alyssa was a member and student mentor of the Student Society
of Architectural Engineers, and the student chapter of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute. In her free time, she likes
tennis, Zumba, and hunting!
Following graduation, she began work for Jacobs Engineering in
Arlington, VA, as a structural engineer.
In addition to being named student marshal, she was awarded a
life membership in the Penn State Alumni Association. Alyssa selected Dr. Linda Hanagan to serve as faculty marshal for the
spring 2014 commencement ceremony held on May 9, 2014.

game and post-game tailgate on April 12. In addition to watching

the Lions play under new Coach Franklin, the tailgate provided an
opportunity for alumni and students to meet and network in a
social environment. ASAE and SSAE provided food, drinks, and
games. The weekend was concluded with brunch and facility
tours alumni. The group gathered at the MorningStar solar house
for a photo.

Kudroff Memorial Lecture Held

The AE Department was pleased to host the
Marvin J. Kudroff Memorial Lecture on Mar. 25 at
the Atherton Hotel.
The distinguished speaker was Dr. Geoffrey Q.
Shen, Chair and Professor of construction management at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Prof. Shen spoke on Ensuring Value for Money
for Large and Complex Construction Projects. The
presentation introduced approaches to improve the effectiveness
and efficiency of value management applications in large and
complex construction projects, drawing on his experience in relevant research and consultancy works over the last twenty years.
Prof. Shen is a Fellow of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Chartered Institute of Building, and the Hong Kong
Institute of Value Management where he was also the president
between 2007 and 2011. As a certified value management facilitator recognised by the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
government, and he has professionally facilitated a large number
of value management and partnering workshops for large and
complex construction projects. He has also received the Presidential Citation Award from SAVE International in 2009 for his energetic and engaging effort to enhance value research and education.

Research Cited
Penn State News recently published an online article titled:
Under some LED bulbs whites arent whiter than white,
which highlights Professor Kevin Housers research. The article
can be viewed at:
www.news.psu.edu/story/312538/2014/04/18/research/undersome-led-bulbs-whites-arent-whiter-white
As a result of the article, one of Housers journal publications was
picked up by the popular press and received considerable publicity. The publication titled, Whiteness Perception under LED Illumination, was published in issue 10(3) of LEUKOS, the journal of
the Illuminating Engineering Society, and can be downloaded for
free at: www.dx.doi.org/10.1080/15502724.2014.902750

ASAE/SSAE Blue and White Tailgate

AE faculty, students, alumni and their families joined Alumni Society of Architectural Engineering (ASAE) and the Student Society
of Architectural Engineers (SSAE) at this year's Blue and White

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A E N e w s l e t t e r Sp r in g 2 0 14

Numerous online articles mentioned the work. One article alone

received more than 170,000 page views. Most sites do not list
page views, so it is not possible to tally them all.
The work is sponsored by Soraa, Inc. and is a component of AE
Ph.D. candidate Minchen (Tommy) Weis dissertation.

Student News
Student Field Trips

To round off the trip, an alumni reception was held at the Embassy
Suites Dulles, which included a special presentation on the
Washington Cathedral earthquake remediation by Erik Sohn 01
and Sonja Hinish 09, from Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates, Inc.
A special thanks to all of our alumni and industry friends who
helped make this trip an outstanding experience for our students!

Residential Construction Management Competition

The National Association of Home Builders student chapters
Residential Construction Management Competition is one of the
highlights of the annual International Builders' Show. The
competition gives students the opportunity to apply skills learned
in the classroom to a real construction company by completing a
management project/proposal. Proposals are submitted to a group
of construction company executives who act as judges. During the
convention, students defend their proposals to the judges in front
of an audience.
This year's project was located in Aurora, CO, and the team
designed a fourphase project with 223 homes built over the
During the spring 2014 semester, fourth-year construction
course of five years. In four months, a team of nine students
students took a field trip to Southland Industries as part of their AE
designed a 60-acre neighborhood situated on the eastern
476 class with Assistant Professor Robert Leicht. In the photo
boundaries of the everexpanding Aurora metro area. From
above, the students are shown in Southland Industries controls
sidewalks to siding to schedules, no detail was too small for the
classroom at their Lorton, VA, fabrication facility. Rob Delawder, a
team to design as a final project portfolio and presentation that
sheet metal superintendent at Southland, is explaining their
was created and delivered to the judges.
approach to testing new systems and products, training
technicians, as well as showing details for their approach to
The goal of the project is to give students the opportunity to apply
modular construction.
academic knowledge to a real business problem in a team
setting. Working with a wide breadth of skills, students were
responsible for the street and drainage layout, home design,
marketing plan, and financial analysis. Throughout all of these
aspects of the project, the overlying themes of familycentered
design, community activity, and natural resource management
provided strong support.
This year's Penn State team was composed of Josh Jaskowiak,
Victoria Riedinger, Victoria Brinemugha, Hannah Noss, Chris
Guyan, Paige Donnell, Dana Lindt, Alayna Auerbach, and Alec
Galanti (shown with Dr. Ali Memari below). The team placed 7th
out of 35 teams at the four-year level.

Washington, DC Trip
AE third-year students enjoyed the annual trip to Washington, D.C.
on Mar. 21-23 where they had the opportunity to meet with
companies and explore some of the area. Students posed for the
photo above in front of the National Cathedral.
Several companies hosted site visits for the group including: James
G. Davis Construction, Clark Construction, SmithGroupJJR, Hensel
Phelps, Southland Industries, United States Green Building Council
(USGBC), Lutron, and AECOM.
In addition, financial support to help defray the students expenses
was provided by Clark Construction, Davis Construction and
Gilbane Construction.
AE Newsletter

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Page 13

Student News
Masonry Experiences Beyond the Classroom
Students enrolled in the AE 432
Masonry Design course taught by
AE research associate Heather
Sustersic (BAE/MAE 2007) went
beyond the classroom this spring to
develop a deeper appreciation for
masonry construction.
In March, students visited the 10story masonry bearing wall project,
Graystone Courts, in Bellefonte, PA,
to understand first-hand the
construction considerations that are
unique to masonry bearing wall
projects. Owner and Contractor Jeff
Long, of Jeff S. Long Construction,
lead the class in two tours of the
L-R AE students Sydney
building. Before visiting the site,
Sterling, Caroline Klatman
students estimated the required
and Mary Julia Haverty
wall thickness and reinforcing that
view styrofoam cornice
would be required to withstand
parapet details on the jobsite
lateral and gravity loading at the
roof
first floor level and compared their
results with what was actually installed. On site, a variety of
topics was discussed including basement retaining walls, lintels,
construction sequencing, and how a traction elevator works.
Students were also introduced to the Hambro floor framing
structural system an economical alternative to precast
construction for multi-story residential projects.
Engineers Can
Build Too! is an
all-day event
linked to the AE
432 course and
held in the AE
BCERL Laboratory
in April. Students
take turns working
in small groups to
Owner/Contractor Jeff Long explains Hambro
build a concrete
structural system to AE and CE students.
masonry unit (CMU)
wall with brick veneer using non-setting mortar. It is harder than
it looks! New to the event this year was hands-on post-installed
anchorage instruction provided by Hilti. Students installed HY-70
epoxy anchors and gas actuated fasteners into hollow CMU,
witnessing the breakout failure mechanism when fasteners are
installed too close to the edge. One epoxy anchor was tension
loaded to failure to demonstrate the difference between observed
and published design tensile capacities. Materials for the event
were graciously supplied by Beavertown Block and Hilti with
instructional services provided by CPI and Hilti. PCMA helped to
coordinate sponsors for the event.

DOE Student Design Competition

A team of Penn State students received the Best Technical
Integration Award at the U.S. Department of Energys (DOE)
inaugural Challenge Home Student Design Competition held April
26-27 at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden,
CO.

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AE Newsletter

S p r in g 2 0 1 4

The DOE charged teams with developing cost-effective zero

energy ready homes for mainstream builders. Teams were
selected to compete based on design/construction strategies,
clear project plans, required analyses and overall competency
applying best practice solutions and principles of building science
from the DOEs Building America program.
Penn States team designed and built a two-story, single family
gas-powered residence in Berwick, PA, dubbed Nittany Lions Eden. Entries were judged by national leading high-performance
builders, building science professionals and researchers. Judges
gave Nittany Lions E-den high scores for indoor air quality.
Student participants included architecture undergraduate Emily
Stein; architecture graduate students Alireza Arabshahi,
Shahrzad Fadaei, Sohrab Rahimi and Bobak Soleimani;
architectural engineering undergraduates Sam Bridwell, Chang
Deng, Drew Nicholas and Justin Rotella; architectural
engineering graduate students Mona Hatami and Issa Ramaji;
civil engineering graduate students Tony Jellen and Ehsan Kamel;
and energy engineering undergraduate Aiden Gilrain-McKenna.
The team was advised by Steve Ayer, postdoctoral researcher in
architectural engineering; Katie Blansett, research assistant at the
Pennsylvania Housing Research Center (PHRC); Rich Kisner,
executive director at the Columbia County Housing and
Redevelopment Authorities; Andy Lau, associate professor of
engineering design; Ali Memari, Bernard and Henrietta Hankin
Chair of Residential Construction and director of the PHRC; Chad
Owens, manager and project engineer at RARE Building
Consultants; Peter Vargo, CEO of Nu-Tech Energy Solutions Co.,
LLC; Scott Wing, associate professor of architecture; and Brian
Wolfgang, project manager in the PHRC.
Twenty-eight teams from U.S. and Canadian universities
competed.

2014 ASC Region 6 and 7 Student Competition

A team from the student chapter of the Mechanical Contracting
Association of America brought home a first
place trophy in the Alternate Competition at the
2014 Associated Schools of Construction (ASC)
Region 6 and 7 Student Competition held on
Feb. 7 in Reno, NV. (shown with AE fifth-year
Ashley Bistline). The team won
the competition sponsored by Rudolph and
Sletton.
Travel support for the group was provided by
the AE Department as well as donations from
Southland Industries and McClure Company. THANK YOU!

Student Lighting Design Education Grant

AE fifth-year students Malcolm Murray and Calvin Owen
Dalton received first prize in the 2014 Howard Brandston Student
Lighting Design Education Grant, which is run by the Illuminating
Engineering Society (IES). In addition, Reza Sadeghi (AE Ph.D.
candidate) will be awarded an honorable mention.
They completed the project as part of AE 466 Computer Aided
Lighting Design and Analysis during the spring semester 2014.
The award recipients were notified on June 26. The awards will
be made at the 2014 IES annual conference, which will be Nov. 24, 2014 in Pittsburgh, PA.

Your support is making a difference!

We are extremely grateful for
the outstanding support that
we regularly receive from our
alumni and friends. Your
support is even more critical in
these difficult times. We
acknowledge the below gifts
made between Jan. and Dec.
2013. If your name has been
inadvertently left out, please
notify us and we will rectify it.

Ms. Tracey L. Nawrocki

Bahnfleth Group Advisors, LLC
Mr. Johnathan W. Cook
Mr. Marvin S. Bevan Jr.
Ms. Amy S. Graver
Mr. & Mrs. Micheal J. Thal
Ms. Tami A. Knopp
Pennell & Wiltberger Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. James L. Holcomb
Mrs. Heidi S. Busch-Richardson
Mr. & Mrs. Joseph F. Gasbarre
Ms. Brittany K. Notor
Baker, Ingram & Associates
DC Strategies
Gifts to $999
Dr. & Mrs. John I. Messner
Ms. Kristen M. Hlopick
Dr. & Mrs. Paul A. Seaburg
Mr. Alexander E. Simeonides
Kenneth W. Fultz, P.E.
Mr. and Mrs. Brad M. Ehlers
Mason Law Office
Mr. Brian J. Genduso
Mr. Alexis C. Arnoldi
Mrs. Lindsay E. Hayes
Mr. C. K. Leisher, Jr.
Mr. Gerard J. Pisarcik, Esq.
Mr. Daniel P. Kelly
Mr. & Mrs. Andrew M. Silver
Mr. David C. Bechtol
Mr. & Mrs. Brian S. Binkley
Mr. & Mrs. David H. Holbert
Mr. Charles R. King, Jr., EAIA
Mr. & Mrs. David L. Zartman
Mr. Mark G. Pappas
Mr. & Mrs. Dennis S. Basich
Mr. & Mrs. Ronald P. Dodson
Mr. & Mrs. Donald F. Steiner
Mr. Ryan G. Barney
Mr. & Mrs. Adam Deutschbauer Mr. Elliott W. Weinstein
Mr. & Mrs. Frank S. Malits
Ms. Alissa L. Popovich
Mr. & Ms. Mark Caldwell
Mr. & Mrs. Jerry A. Akers
Mr. & Mrs. Michael T. Barnhart
Mr. Alexander Panassow
Mr. Samuel M. Snyder
Engenium Group, LLC
Mr. & Mrs. Steven C. Severini
Mr. Alexander W. Byard
Mr. Steven M. Tredinnick
Mr. Andrew R. Pino
Mr. & Mrs. Bruce C. Rohrbach
Mr. Brandon M. Tezak
Mr. & Mrs. William A. Trach
Mr. & Mrs. James R. Brandt
Mr. & Mrs. Edward Deffner
Mr. Jordan J. Rutherford
Mr. & Mrs. Daniel M. Fischer
Mr. Vincent A. Rossi
Ms. Carol-Ann Denning-Spangler
Ms. Abigail L. Kun
Mr. & Ms. Shawn P. Subasic
Ms. Samantha M. Hulings
Ms. Florence C. Dougherty
Ms. Victoria A. Interval
R.G. Vanderweil Engineers, LLP Ms. Lisa J. Chin
The Schneider Electric/Square D
Mr. & Mrs. John C. Johnston
Foundation
Mr. Mark G. Pappas
Mr. & Mrs. John E. Wingenfield
Mr. Michael A. Traczuk
Mr. Anthony Fillipelli
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen E. Iski
Mr. Robert J. McNamara
Mr. & Mrs. Brian E. Trimble
Nitterhouse Concrete Products
Mr. & Ms. Mark Romanski
First Potomac Realty Investment
Mr. Ronald S. Rennert
Mr. Brenton E. Diller
Mr. Stanley B. Wall
Mr. & Mrs. Paul A. Rouis, III
Mr. & Mrs. Theron M. Peacock
Mr. & Mrs. Stephan Findikyan
Mr. & Mrs. Todd J. Garing
Mr. William C. O'Brien, Jr.
Mr. Tyler M. Meek
Mr. & Mrs. Michael S. Wieczorek Mr. Christopher J. Schoonover
Mr. & Mrs. Craig Lentz
Mr. & Mrs. James R. Brandt
Mr. John E. Sadlik
Mrs. Nancy S. Witherite
Mr. Michael Willard Byers
Mrs. Pamela Mailey
Mr. Patrick B. Murphy
Mr. & Mrs. Brandon A. Kotulka
Mr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Brown
Ms. Amanda L. Webb
Mr. & Mrs. Stephen P.
Ms. Ashley L. Wisse
Fortwangler
Ms. Mary E. Klepper
Ms. Naomi J. Miller
Ms. Nancy Greenberg Minni

Mr. & Mrs. Julian J. Wilkins

Mr. James Scott Pflumm
Mr. and Mrs. Bruce M. English
Mr. Andrew N. Tech
Mr. Charles E. Marstiller
Mr. Dominic R. Caputo
Mr. John W. Morris
Mr. & Mrs. Richard Geesaman
Mr. William J. Weiss
Dr. & Mrs. David W. Dougherty
Mr. & Mrs. James M. Stephens
Mr. & Mrs. Steven P. Garbini
Dr. Lisa L. Brown
Balfour Beatty Construction
Mr. & Mrs. James D. Warner
Skanska USA Inc.
Trumbull Corporation
Mr. & Mrs. Michael McCouch
Mr. & Mrs. William T. Freeman
Hope Furrer Associates, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. Gary A. Brennen
Hensel Phelps Construction
Litecontrol Corporation
Dr. & Mrs. Weinstein
Mr. & Mrs. Douglas E. Titzer
Mr. William W. Glassmyer Jr.
Ryan-Biggs Associates, P.C.
Thornton Tomasetti, Inc.
Barton Associates, Inc.
McKinney Properties, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. Michael F. Pohlen
Scitor Corporation
Digital Filaments LLC
Mr. Craig Myers

McClure Company Inc.

Office for Visual Interaction, Inc.
Schuler & Shook, Inc.
Turner Construction Company
Ventana Property Services
Simpson Gumpertz & Heger Inc.
Herb Duffield, LLC
Caddick Construction Company
Haskell Company
Holder Construction Company
Philips Solid-State Lighting Sol.
SmithGroupJJR
Trammell Crow Company
United Way of The Capital
Region
Forrester Construction Co.
Cagley & Associates, Inc.
Homebuilding Community
Foundation
Litecontrol Corporation
Mr. & Mrs. Morris Liss
Pittsburgh Builders Exchange
Dr. & Mrs. Louis Geschwindner
Cannon Design

Gifts of $5,000 and up

Bard, Rao & Athanas Consulting
Engineers
Bechtel Corporation
Cooper CBE Services, Inc.
DPR Construction, Inc.
Mr. Arthur A. Bell, Jr.
Mr. & Mrs. Brent R. Beabout
Stantec
Wiss, Janney, Elstner Assoc. Inc.
Gifts of $1,000 to $4,999
Gilbane Building Company
Alexander Building Construction James G. Davis Construction
Company
Illuminating Engineering Society
Atelier Ten USA, LLC
Nat'l.Electrical Contractors Assoc.
Brinjac Engineering, Inc.
Barton Malow Company
EDIS
Truland Group Inc.
Gulf Landings Development Corp. Shell Oil Company
Hankin Foundation
Dow Chemical Company
Horton Lees Brogden Lighting
Dr. & Mrs. Theodore D. Lynch
Design
GE Foundation
Lam Partners Inc.
Clark Construction Group, LLC
Mr. Daniel J. McGee
Lutron Foundation
Mr. & Mrs. Kurt J. Scheeren
National Housing Endowment
Mr. Robert C. Doeffinger, Jr.
Charles Pankow Foundation
Mr. Russell P. Sykes PE
Southland Industries
Mr. Timothy A. Carr
University of Colorado at Boulder
PA Professional Engineers
IALD Education Trust Fund
Quandel Construction Group, Inc.
Randy Burkett Lighting Design
THANK YOU ALL
Lighting Practice Inc.
for your generous support!!
Fisher Marantz Stone, Inc.
Holbert Apple Associates, Inc.
Mr. & Mrs. Roy W. Johnson
Dr. Jonathan U. Dougherty
Acuity Lighting Group, Inc.
Lighting Design Alliance Inc.
AE Newsletter

S p r in g 2 0 1 4

Page 15

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Architectural Engineering Department

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Phone: 814-865-6394
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Department Head: Chimay J. Anumba

Editor: Nancy J. Smith
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