It’s all about perspective

International exposure gives grad student a deeper understanding of energy research

The thought of spending three months in a foreign country where one does not speak the language could be intimidating for some people. It was certainly intimidating for Gaelen McFadden, a graduate student in the College of Engineering’s Department of Mechanical Engineering. But, having missed out on studying abroad as an undergrad, McFadden decided that he wasn’t going to miss out this time ar ound. So, this past June, McFadden left his comfort zone in San Antonio, Texas, and traveled to Bejing, China, for a research opportunity at Tsinghua University.

“Going to China was a great experience and I strongly recommend that students at UTSA study abroad,” said Mc-Fadden. “I think with engineers, well, we have to make a good effort to broaden our perspective. Getting out to experience new things aids you in your engineering because it allows you to take more viewpoints than just efficiency. While efficiency is so important for engineering, there are a lot more considerations we need to think about.”

McFadden and the research team he worked with at Tsinghua University.

McFadden is studying under Bing Dong, assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Dong was recently asked to lead a study that will set an international standard for measuring energy-related occupant behavior in buildings. Dong says he chose McFadden because he is one of his best students and he was interested in exposing him to a different type of research environment.

“Gaelen is self-motivated, open, and hard-working,” said Dong. “He brought back top knowledge back to UTSA and his exposure to a top university in China is influential for our students here in COE and UTSA.”

According to McFadden, Tsinghua is basically the MIT of China and he believes that he couldn’t have gotten this same experience here in the U.S. as he did while researching abroad.

“Dr. Bing Dong set up an exchange program with Tsinghua University, asked me if I was interested, and I said yes. Part of my research was to develop a sensor that could measure the behavior of the occupants in office buildings,” said McFadden. “These sensors will tell us the behaviors of the occupants in buildings, giving us data that we can use to develop a system to help control building energy usage.”

McFadden at the Great Wall.

McFadden worked one-on-one with a Chinese student as well as with a larger research group of Tsinghua University students. In addition to developing occupancy sensors, McFadden deployed the energy sensors that were developed at UTSA in the building at Tsinghua University in which he was doing research. Once that data is gathered, McFadden is going to compare the data from China with the data that has been gathered here at UTSA.

“The data that we gathered about occupant behavior could help building owners save money and energy,” said McFadden. “Right now, we are really good at modeling how air conditioners work, but we are not good at modeling a person’s behavior when they are in a building. People forget to turn off lights or turn down their AC when they leave the house. If you turn up your AC two degrees when no one is home, that can save up to 22 percent of a building’s electrical bill. We want to develop a technology to put in air conditioners that can detect the occupants’ movement and adjust the cooling settings depending on the occupant’s behavior.”

In addition to gaining a higher level of expertise in his research area, McFadden also said he had a great time exploring a new culture. Not only did he have the opportunity to meet new people and forge new friendships, he was able to explore a new part of the world.

“It was really fun, but also a lot of hard work,” he said. “It is definitely worthwhile to go abroad if you can get the chance, and I would highly recommend it.”

—Deborah Silliman Wolfe/College of Engineering