ORLANDO — ASHRAE recognized 54 individuals for their contributions to ASHRAE and the HVACR industry at its 2016 Winter Conference, held Jan. 23-27 in Orlando, Florida.

Thomas E. Watson, ASHRAE fellow, presidential member, life member, and director of Daikin Applied’s Daikin Learning Institution in Staunton, Virginia, received the F. Paul Anderson Award. The award — ASHRAE’s highest technical achievement honor — recognizes notable achievement of outstanding services performed in the HVACR field.

The ASHRAE Hall of Fame Award honors deceased ASHRAE members who have made milestone contributions to the growth of ASHRAE-related technology or the development of ASHRAE as a society. Inductees were Calvin D. MacCracken and John Edwin Starr.

ASHRAE also elevated 17 members to the grade of fellow. A few of them were: Peter Armstrong, Masdar Institute, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates; Clive Broadbent, life member, director, Clive Broadbent and Associates Pty. Ltd., Campbell Australian Capital Territory, Australia; and Wan Ki Chow, chair professor of architectural science and fire engineering, department of building services engineering, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong.

The ASHRAE Technology Awards recognize outstanding achievements by ASHRAE members who have successfully applied innovative building design. First place recipients include Benjamin A. Skelton, president, Cyclone Energy Group, Chicago, in the new commercial buildings category for the Walgreens net-zero store in Evanston, Illinois; and Dylan Connelly, associate, Integral Group, Oakland, California, in the existing commercial buildings category for DPR Construction’s San Francisco net-positive-energy office.

The ASHRAE Student Design Competition focused on a three-story classroom and office building in Doha, Qatar. First-place recipients in the HVAC System Selection attend the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Team members are Brianna Brass, currently seeking a master’s of architectural engineering degree; Matthew Easlon, Feinschule Hagwon, Gwangju, Korea; Mary Kleinsasser, currently seeking a master’s of architectural engineering degree; Ben MacKenzie, mechanical engineering intern, Affiliated Engineers, Madison, Wisconsin; and Rachel Obenland, currently seeking a master’s of architectural engineering degree.

For the Applied Engineering Challenge, students were required to design a collapsible, portable conditioned shelter that can be assembled in the field to assist in the treatment of a victim of heat illness, including heat exhaustion and heat stroke.

The first-place Applied Engineering Challenge recipients are from California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo: Miren Aizpitarte, project engineer, Critchfield Mechanical Inc., San Jose, California; Cinthya Mendez, mechanical engineer, Western Allied Mechanical, Menlo Park, California; Julia Stone, mechanical facilities engineer, Intel, Chandler, Arizona; and Willis Tang, design engineer, ACCO Engineered Systems, Glendale, California.

The E.K. Campbell Award of Merit honors an individual for outstanding service and achievement in teaching and is presented by the Life Members Club. The recipient is Michael M. Ohadi, ASHRAE fellow and a professor of mechanical engineering and cofounder of the Center for Environmental Energy Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland.

The ASHRAE Award for Distinguished Public Service recognizes members who have performed outstanding public service in their community and, in doing so, have helped to improve the public image of the engineer. The recipient is Erich Binder, president, Erich Binder Consulting Ltd., Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

The John F. James International Award recognizes a member who has done the most to enhance ASHRAE’s international presence. The recipient is Florentino Roson Rodriguez, president, Supercontrols S.A., Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The entire list of winners can be found at www.ashrae.org. 

Publication date: 2/22/2016 

Want more HVAC industry news and information? Join The NEWS on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn today!