Student Activities Committee Highlight
Lucy Engineering Books
ASHRAE has developed a series of Lucy’s Engineering Adventures books for early education learning. Around eighty (80) copies of Lucy’s Engineering Adventure and Lucy Goes Green have been ordered for the Seattle Public Libraries, the Northwest African American Museum, and (9) schools across Kent, Federal Way, Shoreline, and Everett school districts.
Our volunteers are providing book readings and spreading education about the mechanical building infrastructure industry as they distribute the books to their various final destinations. Contact us if you’d like Lucy books to go to your local elementary school or library!
Classroom Visits
Middle College HS hosted a team of our volunteers at their South Lake Campus for an afternoon of lessons and activities centered around how an ACE operates, including how mechanical engineers play their part in building construction.
Career Cafes at Asa Mercer MS held a few sessions of talks centered around our volunteers sharing their career experiences with small groups of curious students.
Pop-Up Booths
At the Georgetown Steam Plant Science Fair in September, a few volunteers manned the wheel of ASHRAE merch and passed out informational pamphlets to a range of students, parents, and teachers. This event was a great way to share what we do with the general public and engage curious students early in their education.
We had a blast at the Annual PSEC (Puget Sound Engineering Council) Engineering Fair at Pacific Science Center! We introduced a “Hold Your Water STEM Kit” where kids built their own “ductwork system” using straws and tape, demonstrating leakage and static pressure drop.
The Sawyer Woods STEAM Fair also used the Hold Your Water STEM Kit to explain the concepts of pressure drop across fitting and ductwork to students by connecting their makeshift system to the types of HVAC in their schools.
College Events
Every September, we help the UW Seattle ASHRAE club with their booth at the Engineering Launch. This event provides a unique opportunity to foster interest in the student club and share what we do with fresh faces every year.
In January, we held our annual Student Industry Night at UW Seattle. This event provides a unique chance for students to connect with industry mentors for insights into the industry. We had over 40 participants including mentors. We were honored to host our Student Activities Regional Vice Chair, Justin Albo, who joined us all the way from Winnipeg, Canada!
In April, we held another well-attended Student Industry Night at UW Bothell. Panelists from several different roles in the industry shared their experiences about transitioning into the workforce and what they enjoy so much about working in the built environment. This was the first event at UW Bothell since they reestablished their student branch this year!
Our last event of the year was a Virtual Reality Lab Tour at MacDonald-Miller Facility Solutions. Students from UW Seattle, UW Bothell, and Highline College were invited to explore the inside of a mechanical room. This activity allowed students to explore and observe how the different trades come together in a building. Thank you to MMFS for opening their facility to students!
Student Support
With the support of the ASHRAE Puget Sound Chapter, Ivy Exum, Treasurer of UW Seattle’s ASHRAE student club, attended the Winter Conference in Las Vegas! Among her favorite seminars were: AI in Action: A Real World Application of AI for Campus Energy Optimization, Cascaded Heat Pumps, and Heating with Ice in a Large Building with Water Source Heat Pumps.
Scholarship Awards
Founded in 1993, the Harry Clayton Sutch Scholarship is named in honor of our past member and mechanical engineer who was active in the Puget Sound chapter. Mr. Sutch willed an endowed to our Chapter which has provided decades of past awards to deserving students. Scholarship awards are also partially sponsored by our Chapter.
Students are judged on personal essay answers, ASHRAE Chapter and campus club involvement, and academic achievement. This year, three students received this award.
1st Place – Anh (Annie) Nyugen – UW Bothell – Bachelor’s in Mechanical Engineering
2nd Place – Tyler Kleinsasser – SD School of Mines & Tech (online from Silverdale, WA) – Master’s in Engineering & Engineering Management
3rd Place – Sung Hee In – UW Seattle – Master’s in Mechanical Engineering
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Thank you to our Chapter members who support the education of students in pursuit of a career in the HVAC industry! If you want to volunteer for events like these or be part of the planning committee, contact students@pugetsoundashrae.org.