ASHRAE announced its 2018 Undergraduate Program Equipment Grants, encompassing a group of 25 undergraduate projects led by students from around the world. The awarded grants total more than $113,000 and will help the winning students to complete undergraduate projects.

The Undergraduate Program Equipment Grants is an ASHRAE program that provides grants to engineering, technical and architectural schools worldwide. Its goal is to increase student knowledge, learning and awareness of the HVAC&R industry through the design and construction of senior projects. Grants are used to fund equipment and supplies for senior projects and two-year technical school projects that focus on ASHRAE-related topics.

“Participating in the ASHRAE Undergraduate Program Equipment Grants Program gives students the opportunity to be challenged through hands-on experience working on a real-world professional project,” says Bill Simpson, chair of the ASHRAE Student Activities Committee. “Not only do these grants provide a greater depth of industry knowledge to undergraduate engineering, technical and architectural students, they demonstrate ASHRAE’s commitment to investing in future generations of building professionals.”

Winning projects were chosen based upon guidelines including: relevance as an ASHRAE-related topic; long-term student impact of the project; amount of funding requested; and the participating students’ involvement with ASHRAE.

This year’s winning projects are:

• “Atmospheric Water Harvesting,” California Polytechnic State University – San Luis Obispo
• ”Supply of Equipment to the Laboratory of Thermotechnology,” National University of Asunción
• “Indoor Air Quality Based Economizer Trainer Construction,” New York City College of Technology
• “Development of Split AC Test Rig Working on Inverter Technology and Charged with Environment Friendly Refrigerant R-32  – As a Laboratory Equipment for Engineering Students,” Nirma University
• “Integration of Smart Building Control into Existing Building Automation System (BAS) Using the Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA) Technology,” North Carolina A&T State University
• “A Heating and Cooling Learning Environment to Test Thermoelectric Panel Performance Which Includes Natural Convection Flow Visualization Using PLIF and PIV,” Oklahoma State University
• “An Organic Rankine Cycle Learning Environment Using HVAC&R Components,” Oklahoma State University
• “A Dual-Use High Efficiency Variable Speed Dehumidifier,” Oklahoma State University
• “A Variable Speed Dedicated Outdoor Air System For Low Energy Homes,” Oklahoma State University
• “Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Ice-Plant System Under One Condensing Unit As a Demonstrator-on-Wheels for Engineering Students,” Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila
• “Visualizing the Invisible: a Hands-on Teaching Laboratory for Indoor Air Quality Principles,” Portland State University
• “Net Zero Water (NZW) and Desiccant-Assisted Evaporative Cooling (EC) for Data Center Air Conditioning,” University of Texas of the Permian Basin
• “Design and Prototyping of a Cloud-Based Smart Dual Fuel Switching System (SDFSS) for Residential Hybrid HVAC System for the Ryerson Engineering Program,” Ryerson University
• “Investigation and Design to Improve Comfort Needs and Energy Efficiency in a Historical University Building,” St. Ambrose University
• “Training Unit for Variable Refrigerant Flow (VRF) Air Conditioning Systems,” Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong
• “Build Hydronic System,” Universidad Autonoma de Nuevo Leon
• “Project and Development of a HVAC Confluent Jets Systems Installed in Corner Walls of an Experimental Chamber,” Universidade do Algarve
• “Optimization and Construction of the Standing Wave Thermoacoustic Refrigerator,” Universiti Tunku Abdul Rahman
• “Design and Construction of a Guarded Hot Box for Thermal Performance Evaluations of Building Envelope,” University of Alabama
• “A Web-Based Dashboard System for Real-Time Monitoring of Environmental Conditions and Electricity Generation/Consumption in Louisiana Solar Decathlon Home,” University of Louisiana at Lafayette
• “Pump/Turbine Generator Workbench,” University of North Texas
• “Design of Energy Recovery Heat Exchanger Coupled with Phase Change Materials for Building Temperature Control,” University of North Texas
• “A Closed-Loop Test Bed for Air-Conditioning and Heat Pump Equipment,” University of Oklahoma
• “Tiny Test Facility for Building Energy Modeling,” University of Utah
• “Calorimeter Test Apparatus for Refrigerant Compressors,” University of Wisconsin—Madison

The top two projects will be presented during the Student Program at ASHRAE’s 2019 Winter Conference, Jan. 12-16, 2019 in Atlanta. Top projects are “A Dual-Use High Efficiency Variable Speed Dehumidifier,” Oklahoma State University and “Refrigeration, Air Conditioning, and Ice-Plant system under one condensing unit as a demonstrator-on-wheels for Engineering Students,” Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.

For more information about the program, please visit www.ashrae.org/grants.