ASHRAE believes Student members are the future of our society and our industry. With this in mind, on September 1, 2021, ASHRAE UK Midlands YEA and Student Activities held a student research paper competition online. Undergraduates, Masters, and PhDs were all eligible to compete. Students from Loughborough, Demontford, and Cardiff competed and presented their research theses in the competition. The research topics comprised sustainability, zero energy, Indoor environmental quality, IoT, electrical services, closed-loop heating systems, and intelligent control. Within the time limit of 5 minutes for each participant, all of the pupils performed admirably. The competition's major requirement was that students show their work in 5 minutes with just 3 slides. The student's presentation was assessed by an industrial judging panel made up of representatives from Vexo, Pick Everard, IES, Hilson Moran, and Crookes Walker. The winners received awards of about £1000 from ASHRAE UK Midlands.

The student competition winners are listed below.

Place UG/Master's Presentation University
First Skills and qualifications for a new electrical contracting world Gary Parker De Montford
First Kids right to fresh air Saziye Dickson Loughborough
Second Potentials of adaptive integrated PMV model for comfort assessment in free-running buildings Hoi Ching Catherine Yeung Loughborough
Third Developing Control Strategies for Zero Energy Buildings using IoT Sensors  Zain Abidi Loughborough
Place PhD Presentation University
First Indoor Environmental Design for a Dementia-Friendly Home using Smart IoT Technologies  Ahmad Aladawi Loughborough
Second Monitor and Optimise office buildings using distributed sensors and intelligent control Joshua Vasudevan Loughborough
Third Investigating the impact of water quality in reducing the performance of closed-loop heating and cooling systems  Amr Suliman Loughborough

Prizes were offered by the UK Midlands Chapter in association with our sponsors. These include: 

 PhD students

1st Place

Certificate and £250 cash prize

2nd Place 

Certificate and £100 cash prize

3rd Place

Certificate and 1 year ASHRAE Student membership with 1-year smart start program membership
   

 Undergraduate & Master students

1st Place

Certificate and £250 cash prize

2nd Place 

Certificate and £100 cash prize

3rd Place

Certificate and £100 worth of BSRIA guides