Photo of Joshua Vasudevan, Hope Tique Organista, Dr Mahroo Eftekhari and Vijay Chithambaram

Pictured (L-R): Joshua Vasudevan, Hope Tique Organista, Dr Mahroo Eftekhari and Vijay Chithambaram

Master’s students win international competition

A group of master’s students have won an international competition hosted by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE).

Hope Tique Organista, Joshua Vasudevan, Greeshma Bindu-Nandakumar and Vijay Chithambaram from the School of Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering were announced as the winners of the Integrated Sustainable Building Design category from the 2019 Student Design Competition.

They were set a brief to design a new, sustainable four-storey building as part of a small hospital in Budapest which would accommodate medical, surgical, clinical and office departments.

The team developed both a Building Information Model (BIM) and an energy model to carry out a comprehensive study, presenting some of their best low energy solutions.

They compared different standards such as ASHRAE, CIBSE and BREEAM. The overall design was sustainable, achieving energy targets well below the current standards and towards zero energy by using renewable energy sources and thus reducing energy demand.

They were mentored by PhD student Vijay Srikandarajah and Dr Mahroo Eftekhari, a Reader in Building Services Engineering.

As a result of achieving first place, the team members will receive $500 each and one representative will be invited on an all-expenses paid trip to the ASHRAE 2020 Winter Conference which takes place in Orlando, Florida in February.

Speaking about the award, Dr Eftekhari said: “Winning the competition is international recognition of our MSc in Low Energy Building Services Engineering course and shows the strength of the University at an international level. This win is a prime example of where practical application of skills and knowledge which students obtain from the MSc modules and coursework have been put to test. I am very proud of them and they deserve the award.

“Apart from the strong teamwork, students’ enthusiasm to synergise industrial partners who continually support the development of the better student experience here in Loughborough cannot be ignored. Travelling to Orlando and presenting their design at the ASHRAE winter conference in front of international experts will provide an opportunity for our students to showcase their knowledge and skills they have gained at Loughborough.”

The group of students are the only team from the UK that has been named a winner of the competition across all categories over the last three years, signifying even more so how much of an achievement this is for the students and Loughborough University.

The competition recognises students from around the world that create outstanding projects, helping them apply their knowledge into a professional setting and promoting teamwork.

It also challenges their engineering approaches and imagination to a building and its processes. More information can be found here.

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