Sampriti DWIVEDY & Miro CHAN, Year 5 students of Dual Degree Program in Technology and Management, received Special Mention in HKUST President’s Cup 2019 with the project of “Smart Facility Management for Smart Campus”. Their project aims at integrating Building Information Modeling (BIM) and Internet of Things (IoT) for the optimization of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) control to balance thermal comfort with energy costs.

The HKUST President’s Cup is an annual campus wide competition that invites undergraduate students to embark on a tenacious pursuit of excellence in research and innovation. Since 2002, the competition has provided students with a unique learning experience in doing research projects. The competition is open to undergraduate students of all years and all disciplines.

Sampriti and Miro found the average indoor temperature was quite low in campus and made them uncomfortable or even shiver during classes. After discussion, they decided to try applying what they learnt in BIM and IoT to improve ventilation management in HKUST. One of the biggest challenges they encountered was the process of understanding exactly how to put their knowledge into practice to solve the real world problem. Sampriti and Miro are both from the Civil Engineering field and they found it was difficult in understanding how the HVAC system worked and what the current system operation in campus was. “We are very grateful to receive a lot of help from the facility managers, PG and PhD students at HKUST. Special thanks to Mr. Kin Ming CHUI who sacrificed much of his lunch times to let us know about his work and the existing software. So we can understand the pros and cons of the current system and start brainstorming the enhancement.” shared by Sampriti and Miro.

The project aims at balancing human thermal comfort and energy costs and maximize the effectiveness in facility management. By analyzing the building structure and indoor occupancy prediction data, facility managers can use the interface created by Sampriti and Miro to monitor and control the airflow circulation and room temperature.

 “This was our first President’s Cup.” said Sampriti. It was also the first time they worked together on a project which was a happy experience. Sampriti added "We were brought together by chance and somehow had a great synergy and harmony between us. It is hard to find a teammate who is so hard working and calm when the going gets tough. I truly find myself lucky to have been teamed with Miro. If I had to do this all over again, there was no other team member I would choose." One of the most memorable moments was that they were approached by people from the industry when presenting at the poster booth. “When they were fascinated with our ideas, it was the first time that we truly felt confident about our research and realized its application in the real world!”

This competition has been a tremendous learning experience for both Sampriti and Miro that it taught them how to realize the value of their research for consumers and users and presenting that value to the audience. Through the research process, they learn to not giving up hope and keep pursuing different venues till finding the right way.

Sampriti and Miro would like to thank the President's Cup team for organizing such a great event and also their supervisor, Dr. Jack C.P. CHENG who continuously inspired them and gave them sufficient freedom to lead the project in a direction that they wanted.