IAC Students Attend ASHRAE Winter Meeting

January 31, 2003

In January 2003, six IAC students attended the ASHRAE (American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers) Winter Meeting in Chicago. This was an opportunity for IAC students with interests in energy and HVAC to meet and interact with other students, engineers, and industry leaders. The IAC students attended technical seminars and forums on topics of interest such as industrial ventilation, building energy simulation, thermal storage as well as technical and standards committee meetings.

The IAC students also attended a huge equipment expo with over 1,700 vendors. While the committee meetings tended to be a bit boring, the students gained an understanding of the structure of ASHRAE and an appreciation of the effort contributed by ASHRAE members in these activities (all committee work is conducted on a volunteer basis). ASHRAE hosted a breakfast with nearly 500 students from schools across the U.S. Most of the IAC student participants were also members in ASHRAE.

he Expo was incredible. While roaming the convention center floor and checking out the exhibits I was able to make several contacts pertaining to IAC topics and job opportunities,said Jason Knight of San Diego State University.

he part of this meeting that I found most interesting beside the trade show was the Technical Programs in which engineers addressed issues regarding design, maintenance and management of HVAC systems. Learning from their experiences helped me understand their situation, their concern, and their problems in implementing old, current and new technologies.added Wisit Kumphai of Oklahoma State University.