ATLANTA, United States, 21 January 21, 2024:  ASHRAE acknowledged its members’ exceptional achievements and contributions to the Society and the built environment during its 2024 Winter Conference in Chicago, the Society announced in a Press release. 

Fellow ASHRAE: According to ASHRAE, a fellow ASHRAE is a membership grade that recognises members who have attained distinction and made substantial contributions in HVAC&R and the built environment, such as education, research, engineering design and consultation, publications, presentations and mentoring. The Society added that it elevated 23 members to the grade of Fellow:

• Vikrant C. Aute, Ph.D., Research Professor, University of Maryland, College Park, Md.
• Kf Chan, Director, Southa Engineering Ltd, Hong Kong.
• Richard A. Danks, P.E., Life Member, ASHRAE And Consultant, Kirtland, Ohio
• Jason W. Degraw, Research and Development Staff Member, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tenn.
• Richard B. Fox, Ph.D., CEO, Aircraft Environment Solutions and Manager, Aeroparts Environmental Control Solutions, Queen Creek, Ariz.
• Siva Gopalnarayanan, Senior Director, HVAC Controls, Kova Products/Onx Homes Inc., Carrollton, Texas.
• Klas C. Haglid, P.E., Founder and Ceo, Haglid Engineering & Associates, Inc., Hillsdale, N.J.
• Jae-Weon Jeong, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Architectural Engineering, Hanyang University, Seoul, South Korea.
• Yogendra K. Joshi, Ph.D., Professor, John M. Mckenney and Warren D. Shiver Distinguished Chair, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Ga.
• Carolyn (Gemma) Kerr, Ph.D., Life Member ASHRAE, Retired Co-Owner,Partner and Senior Chemist, Inair Environmental Ltd., Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
• Satheesh Kulankara, Ph.D., Lead Staff Engineer, Johnson Controls, York, Penn.
• Satish Kumar, Ph.D., Executive Director and President, Alliance for an Energy Efficiency Economy, New Delhi, India.
• Hartwig M. Künzel, Head of Department, Fraunhofer-Institute for Building Physics (Ibp), Valley, Bavaria, Germany.
• Suzanne Leviseur, P.E., Hbdp, Senior Mechanical Engineer, Haddad Engineering, Inc., Jacksonville, Fla.
• Farhan Mehboob, CEO, S. Mehboob & Company – Consulting Engineers, Karachi, Pakistan.
• Richie Mittal, Managing Director, Overdrive Engineering Pvt Ltd, Noida, India.
• Ashish Rakheja, Managing Partner, Aeon Integrated Building Design Consultants Llp, Noida, India.
• Andres Sepulveda, Director, Commtech Commissioning Services Sa, Madrid, Spain.
• Paul W. Snell, P.E., Retired Engineering Fellow, Johnson Controls Inc., York, Penn.
• Igor Vaisman, Ph.D., Chief Therman Management Engineer, Mission Technologies, A Division of Hii, Carmel, Ind.
• Shengwei Wang, Ph.D., Chair Professor, Building Energy And Automation, Director Of Research, Institute for Smart Energy, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.
• Pawel Wargocki, Ph.D., Professor, Department Of Environmental and Resource Engineering, Dtu Sustain, Technical University of Denmark, Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
• Jin Wen, Ph.D., Professor, Associate Dean for Research, Drexel University, Philadelphia, Penn.

Award of Engineering Excellence

According to ASHRAE, the Award of Engineering Excellence was created in 1989 to recognise a first-place winner of the Society-level Technology Award competition for an outstanding application of innovative design and effective energy utilisation. ASHRAE said that the recipient of the Award of Engineering Excellence demonstrated the best overall compliance with the judging criteria.

 According to the Society, the first-place winners of the Award of Engineering Excellence are Hiroki Yokoyama and Obihiro Kosei General Hospital, Obihiro, Japan, in the new healthcare facilities category. The building, the Society said, is owned by the Hokkaido Federation of Health and Agricultural Cooperatives.

The ASHRAE Technology Awards

According to ASHRAE, The ASHRAE Technology Awards recognise outstanding achievements by ASHRAE members who have successfully applied innovative building designs. ASHRAE added that their designs must incorporate ASHRAE standards for effective energy management and indoor air quality and serve to communicate innovative systems design. Winning projects are selected from entries earning regional awards. 

• Cody Ellingson, Jeremiah Christenson and Erik Aakhus, P.E., and Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative Office Complex, Williston, N.D. in new commercial buildings category, The building, Society said, is owned by Mountrail-Williams Electric Cooperative.
• Martin Roy, Lianne Cockerton and Alexandre Cadieux, and The Phenix – Sustainable Design Lab – Lemay Architecture and Design, Montreal, QC, Canada in existing commercial buildings category. Society said that Lemay owns the building.
• Kiersten Washle and Teresa B. Laurence, P.E., EBCx and Liberty Mutual – Boston Campus, Boston, Mass won the commercial building category. The building, Society said is owned by Liberty Mutual. 
• Monjed G. Barakat, P.E., Chad Riggs, Brad Bittmann and Alicia Decesaris, P.E., won the existing educational facilities category for Loudoun County Public Schools – Aldie Elementary School, Aldie, Va. The building, Society said, is owned by Loudoun County Public Schools.
• Wade Bennion, P.E. and Randy Neumann, P.E., won the new educational facilities category for Sunburst Elementary School, Layton, Utah. The building, Society said, is owned by Davis School District.
• Chun-Sing WONG, PhD, BEAP, OPMP, Jacky C K NG, BEAP and Kin-Kwok LAM, BEAP, HBDP EBCx won the institutional buildings category for Sha Tin Racecourse Grandstand, Hong Kong. The building, Society said, is owned by The Hong Kong Jockey Club.
• Robin Graves, P.E. and Jason Atkisson, P.E., won the new institutional buildings category for Promega Kornberg Center Fitchburg, Wis. The building, Society said, is owned by Promega Corporation. 
• Matthew Wade, P.E., EBCx won the health care facilities category for Mercy Health – Lourdes Hospital, Paducah, Ky. The building, Society said, is owned by Bon Secours Mercy Health.
• Gheorghe Mihalache, Ph.D., P.Eng., won the new industrial facilities or processes category, for Fromagerie Bel Canada, Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, Canada. The building, Society said, is owned by Groupe bel Canada.

 Student Design Competition

According to ASHRAE, the 2023 Student Design Competition focused on the design of a new laboratory building, which consists of a large single-story building with a rooftop penthouse in Cairo, Egypt. ASHRAE said that the total building area is approximately 2,515 square metres. As part of the project, ASHRAE said, new HVAC systems were to be designed for the new laboratory facility. Furthermore, the Society said that the building consists of a wet bench lab, dry bench lab, research support offices, common area for circulation, secured high-density data centre room, penthouse, common reception area, researcher offices, storage, resting pods room and social room. 

According to the Society, the following are the winners:

• First place in the HVAC Design Calculations category was awarded to the University of Nebraska. Jackson Fritch, John Latta and Clayton Riley are the team members.
• First place in the HVAC System Selection category was awarded to the University of Sheffield. Team members are Lawrence Copestick, Hasan Shwaish, Hitaishi Gayatri Gopaul, Cian Silaghi, and Zain Tariq.
• First place in the Setty Family Foundation Net Zero Energy Design category was awarded to Loughborough University. Team members are Thomas Crook, Girishkumar M. Gudnennavar, Mirza Habeebullah Baig, Ziqiu (Alex) He and Rodrigo Gonzalez Morra.

The Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge

According to ASHRAE, in the 2023 Setty Family Foundation Applied Engineering Challenge, students designed a portable IAQ health meter to detect contaminants in spaces and display the levels of different toxins to the user. The system, Society said, considered multiple system variables, including space temperature, humidity and contaminant level, as outlined in ASHRAE Standard 62.1, Ventilation and Acceptable Indoor Air Quality, as well as outdoor condition and other related IAQ issues.

 ASHRAE said that the first place was won by a student team from Bandung Institute of Technology. Team members are Lie Kevin Marcellino Gunawan, Andrew Tanuwijaya, Nur Fharhan Al Fariz, Frederick Ebenezer Leonard, Muhammad Maulvi Mirza Chairat and Muhammad Arghy Rafidan.

Paul Anderson Award

According to ASHRAE, Eckhard A. Groll, PhD, Fellow Member ASHRAE, received the F. Paul Anderson Award. The award, Society said, is ASHRAE’s highest technical achievement given for notable achievement of outstanding services performed in the HVAC&R field. Furthermore, ASHRAE said that Groll is the William E. and Florence E. Perry Head, Mechanical Engineering and Reilly Professor of Mechanical Engineering, School of Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind.

 E.K. Campbell Award of Merit

According to ASHRAE, Filza H. Walters, Fellow Member ASHRAE, received the E.K. Campbell Award of Merit. The award, Society said, honours an individual for outstanding service and achievement in teaching and is presented by the Life Members Club. Furthermore, ASHRAE said Walters is a Professor of the Architectural Engineer Program, Department of Multidisciplinary Engineering, College of Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

 John F. James International Award

According to ASHRAE, Ahmed Alaa Eldin Mohamed, Ph.D., received the John F. James International Award. The award, the Society said, recognises a member who has done the most to enhance the Society’s international presence. Mohamed is the Chairman and Partner, Middle East Gate Holding, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

 YEA Inspirational Leader Award

According to ASHRAE, Ghina Annan received the YEA Inspirational Leader Award. The award, the Society said, recognises a Young Engineer in ASHRAE (YEA) member who has gone above and beyond to make considerable contributions to the industry and community. Society said Annan is the Decarbonisation Business Lead, Stantec, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.

 ASHRAE Hall of Fame

According to ASHRAE, Benjamin T. Bootle, Jr., P.E. (1931-1996) and Prem C. Jain, Ph.D., Fellow Life Member ASHRAE (1936-2018), were inducted into the ASHRAE Hall of Fame. The ASHRAE said that the Hall of Fame honours deceased members of the Society who have made milestone contributions to the growth of ASHRAE-related technology or the development of ASHRAE as a society.