MSU Environmental Design PhD student receives Emerging Scholar Award from the International Conference on the Constructed Environment
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EmailJuntae Jake Son, a PhD student studying Environmental Design in the MSU School of Planning Design and Construction, received an Emerging Scholar Award from the International Conference on the Constructed Environment.
Juntae Jake Son, a PhD student studying Environmental Design in the MSU School of Planning Design and Construction, received an Emerging Scholar Award from the International Conference on the Constructed Environment.
The 2018 conference that Son attended focused on Urban Regeneration – Between Regeneration and Resentment. It was held at Wayne State University in Detroit in May 2018.
The Emerging Scholar Award, with its accompanying responsibilities, provides a strong professional development opportunity for early career assistant professors and doctoral students at this stage in their academic careers. Meeting experts in the field, interacting with colleagues from other parts of the world, and creating networks and friendships are all additional benefits of this award.
“I heard that this award is similar to ‘rookies of the year’ in sports. I think it is an honor to have received this award in the first year of my PhD program,” Son said.
The conference included two full days of paper presentations and workshops, in which Son presented his research based on his master thesis titled “Impact of Building Characteristics on the Patterns of Building Energy Consumption in Different Climate Conditions.”
According to Son, the study focused on how to reduce energy by predicting building materials that have a large effect on energy consumption. To achieve the research goal, data provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration was used. The data contained numerous variables, such as gas, electricity, materials and climate condition of 6,700 commercial buildings located in the United States.
The results showed that when food service buildings are built with single-layer glass and a metal roof in hot-dry/mixed-dry regions, gas consumption is low. When food sale buildings are built with metal-panel walls, a metal roof and multilayer glass in cold regions, electricity consumption is low.
“I think that many people are interested in my research field, and I will continue to work harder on my research regarding energy-efficiency and green building design.”
In addition to presenting their own research papers, Emerging Scholars also chaired the parallel sessions and provided technical assistance throughout the conference.
“Although I was a first year PhD student during the conference period, I chaired two sessions: ‘Transforming Spaces’ and ‘Materalitis’. It was a really great experience to learn from other fields rather than my field. I could ask a lot of questions about others’ research,” Son said.
Son added that his undergraduate courses were of large help to him, and he was able to learn a lot from MSU’s interior design curriculum, in which he received his bachelor’s degree. However, he said that scholarly research is different requiring more curiosity, more reading, and more time management. Son is currently working with Suk-Kyung Kim, PhD, associate professor of interior design, for his doctorate.
