The AE senior thesis is a unique project, very different than most senior projects even within other engineering disciplines. On a personal level, I enjoyed the ability to combine my passion for themed entertainment with architectural engineering for my final project at Penn State. My project was very unusual, and it provided me the opportunity to analyze and assess the solutions to the types of challenges I am going to face in my future career as an MEP consultant in the entertainment industry. I think this experience would have been much less valuable and less excited had I not been able to work with exp to select a building that was both interesting and relevant to my future career.
Throughout the entire thesis process, I found that two things aided me the most in successfully completing my analyses: my masters coursework and contact with industry professionals. Because my project was very atypical, I needed to look outside the typical scope of HVAC design. Using information from AE551: Combined Heat and Power as well as reaching out to the "Southeast Aquarium" plant engineering team, the design team at exp, and equipment sales reps, I was able to achieve a better understanding of my building, its systems, and the components of my proposed redesign. I really could not have completed these without the help of those individuals and my adviser, Dr. Freihaut.
Ultimately, working on something I was passionate about made thesis worthwhile. For future years of AE thesis, I would encourage students to choose something that they are really interested in and excited about. The fall semester thesis assignments can be difficult because the technical reports have set requirements that may not be relevant to a particular aspect of your building or what you would like to propose for your redesign. I think it is important to know that you can make thesis your own - and then it becomes a truly valuable AE experience.