Akshay Malvade is currently an undergraduate student studying Industrial and Systems Engineering. He is an intern at the Rutgers Energy Institute for the summer of 2017, working with Professor Mohsen Jafari.
1: Please briefly describe your research. The research I worked on this summer addresses the growing energy crisis and the need for a smarter way to limit energy use in buildings and communities alike. The graduate student team and I are currently working on implementing and simulating net zero energy communities. Net zero energy communites are those that use all the energy that is generated from multiple renewable energy sources, essentially there is no wastage of energy. Using different programs, we can generate loading diagrams and values which represent the amount of energy created through all kinds of renewable energy and simulate the energy needs of a building in a specified climate zone. Our research revolves around making sure that the simulated energy created is fully used by the buildings in their respective climate areas.
2: How did you come to be involved in this research? I came to be involved with this research project in the spring semester of my freshman year of undergraduate study. I was interested in energy smart systems and wanted to help contribute to research that will inevitably shape the future of everyday living. After interviewing with my advisor, Dr. Jafari, I became involved with the REI and his research on the cyber physical simulation of energy smart systems.
3: Where do you see your research fitting into our energy future? Ultimately, the research I am working on is the modern solution to the energy crisis, and will inevitably become a part of the energy future. After scaling and cost constraints help to improve the return on investment of such net zero energy communities, these buildings and energy sources will be implemented on a much larger scale. The consequence could be a world where no energy is ever wasted in both consumption and generation.
