{"id":168764,"date":"2022-11-07T16:00:21","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T02:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/?p=168764"},"modified":"2022-11-09T10:34:34","modified_gmt":"2022-11-09T20:34:34","slug":"uh-energy-and-sustainability-vip","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hawaii.edu\/news\/2022\/11\/07\/uh-energy-and-sustainability-vip\/","title":{"rendered":"Hands-on engineering initiative helps UH<\/abbr> achieve energy, sustainability goals"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>
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Members of the UH<\/abbr> Energy and Sustainability VIP<\/abbr> presented at a poster session in October 2022.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A new initiative is helping the University of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span> System achieve its sustainability goals, while providing real-world, hands-on experience for UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa College of Engineering<\/a> students.<\/p>\n

UH<\/abbr> Energy and Sustainability<\/a> is one of about 20 vertically integrated projects (VIPs<\/abbr>) offered at UH<\/abbr> M\u0101noa. VIPs<\/abbr> are designed as long-term projects to engage students and better prepare them for future careers. Teams are vertically integrated, meaning they consist of a faculty mentor, graduate student researchers and undergraduate students of all levels.<\/p>\n

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In fall 2022, students are focusing on buildings within the Holmes Hall loop, which are served by an HVAC<\/abbr> system on the roof of the building.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The UH<\/abbr> Energy and Sustainability VIP<\/abbr> grew out of a fall 2021 electrical engineering course called Renewable Energy of Â鶹´«Ã½<\/span>, which was introduced by Yoh Kawanami<\/strong> from Hawaiian Electric, in consultation with Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering<\/a> Chair Wayne Shiroma<\/strong>. Its goal was to provide electrical and computer engineering students with more hands-on experiences and access to subject matter experts from the industry. In collaboration with Hawaiian Electric and the UH<\/abbr> Office of Sustainability<\/a>, this course has continued through student projects in spring and fall 2022. Several students who have taken this course and completed related projects have recently been hired by Hawaiian Electric.<\/p>\n

“It is exciting to have our students work on projects that are personally meaningful to them, while interacting with and learning directly from industry and sustainability experts who are generously volunteering their time,” said Olga Boric-Lubecke<\/strong>, UH<\/abbr> Energy and Sustainability team advisor and Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering professor. “This semester we are focusing on buildings within the Holmes Hall loop, which are served by an HVAC<\/abbr> system installed on the roof of Holmes Hall.”<\/p>\n

Reginald Atchazo<\/strong>, who is the second semester of the VIP<\/abbr> and is the data visualization project leader, said, “So far my experience in the UH<\/abbr> Energy and Sustainability VIP<\/abbr> has been great. It has challenged me and allowed me to be creative and learn about data visualization through a software called tableau. This will help prepare me for a future career because I think this is a useful skill to have, being able to process data and create visual components in a way for a general audience to understand.”<\/p>\n

Students have tackled and are continuing work on several issues, including:<\/p>\n