Student Alpha Yacob Arsano
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Alpha Yacob Arsano, a PhD candidate in architecture and building technology, is an Ethiopian architect focused on maximizing passive building strategies in different climatic conditions. She studies the potential of natural ventilation in buildings, thermal comfort of occupants, and the effect of climate change in regions around the globe. Previously an academic fellow at Transsolar Energietechnik, a climate engineering consultancy in Stuttgart, Germany, Arsano also interned at the architectural firm Allmann Sattler Wappner in Munich. She developed a digital design tool, CLIMA+, to promote building design that uses less air-conditioning and consumes less energy in pursuit of a more sustainable and healthier environment. The tool can be used by builders and architects in the early stages of design. Arsano earned a BS in architecture from the Ethiopian Institute of Architecture, Building Construction and City Development, and she earned an SM from the MIT School of Architecture and Planning.
2017 SMARCHS Thesis: CLIMA +: An Early Design Natural Ventilation Prediction Method
Areas of Interest
Alternative Energy, Building Energy, Building Materials, Building Ventilation, Climate Change, Computation, Daylighting, Graphic Representation, Sustainability, Visualization
Education
2017 - Present
PhD. candidate in building technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015 - 2017
Master of science in architecture studies in building technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2007 - 2013
BS in Architecture, Ethiopian institute of architecture, building construction and city planning (EiABC) Academic Experience
2018 - Present
Teaching assistant, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015 - Present
Research assistant, Sustainable design lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018 -
Presenter, 2018 North America Passive House Conference 2018 -
Presenter, 2018 BCP conference, Illinois Institute of Technology 2017 -
Presenter, IBPSA international conference 2012 -
Project addis vision 2050 symposium organizer, EiABC and Future Cities Laboratory in Singapore collaboration 2012 -
The new town of BuraNEST project researcher, EiABC and ETH Zurich collaboration 2012 -
Summer school participant, University of Applied Sciences and Arts (Northwestern Switzerland) 2012 -
Conference participant, Future Cities Laboratory, ETH Zurich, Switzerland 2012 -
Presenter on Future cities: society, technlogy, and drivers of change, Academy Engleberg 2011 - 2012
Teaching assistant, EiABC Professional Experience
2018 - Present
President, IBPSA Boston 2017 - 2018
President, ASHRAE MIT student chapter 2013 - 2014
Climate engineer, Transsolar energietechnik 2013 - 2014
Practicing architect, Allmann Sattler Wappner 2013 -
Project architect, Ethiopian ministry of urban development and construction 2013 -
Architect, Fasil Giorghis architects and planners Awards
2017 - 2018
MIT Presidential Fellow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2018 -
Changed climate competition finalist, MIT and Energy Intiative Solutions 2013 - 2014
Fellowship, Transsolar academy 2013 -
For a lighter budren competition winner, The water channels, Netherlands 2013 -
Best achieving female student, Addis Ababa University (EIABC) 2012 -
Carbon free neighborhoods competition winner, World student summit for sustainability