Student Team 

Yusuf is presently pursuing a Ph.D. and serving as a graduate research assistant within the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at Michigan State University (MSU). Additionally, he holds the role of an energy and sustainability analyst on the MSU Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) team. In 2021, he obtained his Bachelor's Degree in Environmental Engineering from Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey. Subsequently, as an Engineer-In-Training with HASENE International NGO, he contributed to water supply projects in underserved communities in several African countries. In 2023, he completed his Master of Science (MSc) Degree at Central Michigan University (CMU) in the USA. During his MSc program, he led an EPA-funded project focused on pollution prevention in automotive industry, which sparked his interest in sustainability and energy efficiency. 

His LinkedIn profile is here

Jeonga Kang obtained a Bachelor's degree in Architecture from the Architecture Department at Kyonggi University and a Master of Science in the Architectural Engineering Department at the University of Seoul. She Joined the PhD program at Michigan State University in 2023. Based on her bachelor's degree, she has a comprehensive understanding of the entire building system. In her master's course, she focused on building energy and the environment. She submitted a master's thesis on a residential building and occupant behavior. Currently, she has a strong interest in improving the energy efficiency of residential buildings. Her ultimate goal is contributing to the reduction of CO2 emissions and the improvement of the global environment, not only at the single-unit building level but also at the grid level.

Her LinkedIn profile is here

Cassandra is pursuing her PhD in Civil Engineering while working as a graduate assistant at MSU. She earned her bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering at Mercer University, where she graduated Summa Cum Laude. It was while pursuing this degree that she became enamored with sustainability and its potential impacts on people while working alongside a friend and mentor at Mercer. After finishing her degree alongside a minor in Global Development, she joined the team at MSU where she hopes to deepen her own understanding of the field while contributing to the team's research goals.

Behlul is currently a Ph.D. student and graduate research assistant in the Civil & Environmental Engineering Department at Michigan State University (MSU). Also, he is a team member of MSU Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) as an energy & sustainability analyst. He completed his Bachelor's Degree in Civil Engineering from Istanbul Technical University (ITU), Turkey in 2015. He then worked in Qatar as a site civil engineer in Dogus Construction company for nearly one year. After, he completed his MSc Degree in Construction Management from Istanbul Technical University in 2019. For his MSc thesis, he focused on the integration of Building Information Modeling (BIM) in facilities management. Before joining the MSU, he worked as a research & teaching assistant at ITU from 2017 to 2021.

His LinkedIn profile is here

Hao Dong completed his BS and MS degrees in Civil and Environmental Engineering from University of Dayton, OH in 2017 and 2020, respectively. For his MS studies, he focused on the field of advanced material applications under various thermal conditions to improve building safety and reliability in long term. During his MS studies, he developed interests in sustainability of building system through implementing advanced controls. Joining PhD program at Michigan State University in 2020, he is currently conducting research in the field of energy efficiency, building modeling, energy simulation, and data analysis in smart building systems.

His LinkedIn profile is here.

Christiana is a master’s student and research assistant at Michigan State University studying civil engineering with a structural emphasis. She received her bachelor’s degree in Civil Engineering from Texas Tech University in 2022, where she also worked in engineering outreach with local elementary schools. Christiana is interested in the rising popularity of mass timber construction and investigating opportunities to incorporate timber design into existing undergraduate curriculum. She also enjoys working directly with communities on the NNA Alaska project and investigating structural issues arising from the freeze/thaw of permafrost. Christiana is a certified Engineer in Training and has several years of bridge design internship experience. She recently completed a forensic structural engineering internship through the NSF INTERN program and hopes to work in this industry after graduation.

Her LinkedIn profile is here

Andreana completed her Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering with Summa Cum Laude at Morgan State University in May 2022. During her undergraduate career, she gained various industry experience in civil engineering including traffic, environmental/water resource, and bridge. However, she gained a high interest in sustainability after taking an elective course that focused on LEED. In addition to her industry experience, she has also earned the Engineer-in-Training and LEED Green Associate certifications. She joined Michigan State University in Fall 2022 in the MSc program for Civil Engineering with a focus on energy/sustainability.

Her LinkedIn profile is here

Janie is an undergraduate student who is in her second year of Biosystems Engineering. Janie has found a profund interest in both sustainability and renewable energy , which is how she began her involvement with this group. Her end goal is to end up working for Stryker, or to work as a Neural Engineer. 

Her LinkedIn profile is here.

Jordan is a third year student double majoring in Data Science and Statistics at Michigan State University. Jordan was born and raised in Clinton Township, MI, with a passion towards finding the truth and relevance within data and data analytics. His end goal is to work within a data analytics department for a professional sports team. 

His LinkedIn profile is here

Sajed Sadati earned his BSc and MSc degrees in the field of Structural Dynamics from Amirkabir University of Technology (AUT), Tehran, Iran, in 2008 and 2011 respectively. He worked on identification of dynamic parameters of nonlinear structures during his masters at AUT. Because of his interest in studies on sustainable development and renewable energy technologies, he pursued a second master in Sustainable Environment and Energy Systems program at Middle East Technical University (METU), Northern Cyprus Campus, starting from September 2013. His research at METU included investigation on applications of energy storage systems for deploying renewable energy units. During his studies on renewable energy technologies he had researches on the feasibility of installing renewable energy units based on the available meteorological data for any specific region. His research interests include sustainable constructions, integration of renewable energy technologies in building design, energy storage systems and modeling of nonlinear structures. He graduated with his PhD in the CCEE department at ISU in Construction Engineering.

His LinkedIn profile is here

Elham Jahani completed her BSc degree in Geomatics Engineering at Iran University of Science and Technology. She has had four years of job experience in Iran in the field of Geomatics and Construction. She continued her masters studies in the field of Sustainable Environment and Energy Systems at Middle East Technical University (METU). Her masters thesis was on the application of sustainable practices for improving water management in urban areas. During her studies at METU, she also had conducted research on renewable energy resources and employing renewable hybrid energy systems for providing clean energy for communities located on islands based on meteorological data. Her research areas of interest include sustainable approaches to enable more resilient cities and communities with regards to water and energy issues. She graduated with her PhD in Intelligent Infrastructure Engineering in Fall 2020

Her LinkedIn profile is here

Niraj Kunwar completed his Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering from National Institute of Technology (NIT), Durgapur, India in 2012. Then, he worked as a service engineer at Pooja International (Volkswagen Nepal) until 2015, where he learned about various engineering systems and innovative technology derived from such systems. His research area of interests are Simulation and Visualization, Control and Optimization of HVAC systems and Data analysis. He currently works at Oakridge National Laboratory. 

His LinkedIn profile is here

Debrudra Mitra completed his Bachelors degree in Mechanical Engineering and Masters degree in Energy Science and Technology from Jadavpur University, India in 2014 and 2016 respectively. His master thesis focused on studying on different types of sustainable building envelopes. He also completed Master of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from Iowa State University in 2019. During his masters degree he conducted research on sustainable building envelope materials and concentrated solar thermal applications. His research area of interest is on sustainable building energy systems. He mainly focused on occupant behavior, occupant-based controls and its impact on energy performance in building system. He completes his PhD at MSU in CIvil Engineering in 2022. He currently works at TRC.

His LinkedIn profile is here. His Google Scholar profile is here.

Natalie is a current graduate student at University of Toronto. She was an undergraduate at Michigan State, studying civil engineering. She initially pursued civil engineering because of a fascination of the built world and urban structures. As her experience grew, she began to become drawn towards the impact of infrastructure on the climate and pollutants. Natalie is interested in finding a career path revolved around resolving environmental concerns relating to building and construction. Natalie is working in the Building Energy and Indoor Environment (BEIE) Lab at the University of Toronto 

Her LinkedIn profile is here

Kaanthi Sundaravadanam graduated from Iowa State University in Summer 2017 with her masters in in Construction Engineering and Management. Her masters work focused on Sensitivity Analysis of Building Parameters on Inverse Change Point Models of Residential Building HVAC Systems She currently works full-time at Nelson Engineering. She holds a Bachelors degree in Civil Engineering from Sri Sivasubramaniya Nadar College of Engineering, India, 2015. During her undergraduate studies, she focused on the efficient design of the piping system for her college campus and also focused on the quality testing of the materials. 

Her LinkedIn profile is here

Nancy Nicho graduated with her masters in Interdisciplinary Graduate Studies in Summer 2018. Her three focus areas were Civil Engineering, Architecture and Education. Nancy’s MS focused on the development of educational modules for K-12 students on energy efficiency and building performance. 

Kalyan Prasad Vesta graduated from Iowa State University in Spring 2017, majoring in Construction Engineering and Management. Kalyan’s research topic was on Evaluating the gap in actual and predicted energy performance of LEED buildings: A case study of the State Gym at Iowa State University. Currently he works as a Project Manager for Stueve Construction in Sioux Falls, SD. Prior to ISU, he graduated from Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) University, India with Bachelors in Civil Engineering in 2015. During study at VIT, he conducted research on the utilization of sustainable materials in concrete as a substitute of conventional materials. He also worked as an intern at a power plant construction as an undergraduate to gain practical experience. 

Maria was a master’s student in environmental engineering. She received her bachelor’s degree in 2020 in civil engineering from MSU. Her research focuses on improving the infrastructure of rural communities in Alaska. She travelled to Alaska in summer of 2021 to collect field data on the energy efficiency of houses in a rural community. She is very excited for this awesome opportunity! After MSU, Maria plans to go on to get a Ph.D. in similar research to her Master’s. Outside of school, Maria loves her dog and family. She likes to hang out in coffee shops, bookstores, farmer’s markets, and thrift shops, and her favorite season is winter. Maria hopes to continue research in the improvement of building efficiency in cold climates and overall, as this will be her personal effort against climate change. She graduated in 2022 and currently works at Elevate. 

Her LinkedIn profile is here. 

Emily is a master's student at Michigan State University in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. Following the reception of her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering, she is pursuing her master's in Civil Engineering with a focus on energy efficiency, sustainability, and data analytics with an expected graduation date of May 2022. With over four years of industry and research experience driven by her passion for sustainability, Emily's background covers a wide range of industries and roles. Her experience includes, but is not limited to, conducting and publishing research in bioremediation; advancing electrical instruments and controls at a polysilicon chemical plant; performing competitive benchmarking and creating interactive dashboards at a leading solar company; applying thermal and moisture performance tools, such as THERM and WUFI, to current events like the Texas Energy Crisis; employing data-driven modeling techniques to EV charging to assess grid flexibility services; and measuring the impact of COVID-19 on residential buildings through the analysis of high-resolution, disaggregated energy use data. Looking forward, Emily plans to successfully integrate and improve sustainability in existing structures/spaces through building energy efficiency while preserving the health, safety, privacy, affordability, and culture of occupants. Emily's technical ambitions include machine learning, engaging informational platforms, smart technologies, energy modeling and analysis, occupant behavior in buildings, and building-grid interactions. She graduated in 2022. 

Her LinkedIn profile is here. 

Don is an undergraduate student at Michigan State University majoring in Computer Science and a minor in Game Design. He is researching ways to increase energy efficiency by analyzing the behavior patterns of occupants in households under the guidance of Professor Cetin. He hopes to use his knowledge to solve interesting problems in different fields in data science.

Zach is a graduate of the MSU Civil Engineering program and a former URA on Dr. Cetin's research team. Born and raised in the Lansing area, Michigan State University was the obvious choice for my engineering education. Originally, he chose to pursue an engineering degree because he was strongly interested in a career within electrical infrastructure but chose civil engineering over electrical engineering because he wanted to study sustainable and renewable infrastructure. Zach was extremely excited to join the team in early 2020 because he had no exposure to the academic research process. It was rewarding to learn more about the current challenges and barriers to the improvement and widescale implementation of automated occupancy-based building utility systems. Zach hopes to play a role in the future implementation of smart infrastructure system in my future career within engineering consulting.

His LinkedIn profile is here.  

Brady Berg is an undergraduate at Michigan State University where he is majoring in computational data science. His interest in data science began after seeing the expanding possibilities of machine learning and algorithms through big data. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with friends and VR gaming. Brady started researching at MSU in 2021 and plans to pursue a career in developing new ways to gain insights from data. 

His LinkedIn profile is here.

Suhail is a Junior undergraduate student majoring in Environmental Engineering at MSU. He is currently helping out as a research assistant on a few different projects. One example being the ARPA-E project that focuses on CO2 level variations in an environment in relation to occupancy number. Once he graduates, he plans to work on projects related to sustainability of green zones and more environmentally friendly building procedures for the future. 

Xiangxiu(Melody) earned her BA in Special Education-Learning Disabilities from Michigan State University (MSU) in 2021. She is now a master’s student at MSU in the College of Education with a focus on world language teaching and curriculum design. Her research interests are Engineering Education, Curriculum Structure, and Development. During her free time, she likes to travel, read and write for fun. Upon graduating from her master's program, she would like to teach special education in public schools and continue to explore ways to better support students with different learning needs in her classroom.