Kathryn (Katy) Hinkelman, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar, Sustainable Buildings and Societies Laboratory
Department of Architectural Engineering
Pennsylvania State University
Contact: khinkelman(at)psu(dot)edu
Background
Dr. Kathryn Hinkelman has a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Denver, an M.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering from Pennsylvania State University. She is a recipient of the U.S. Department of Energy IBUILD Fellowship, the international P.E.O. Scholar Award, and Phi Beta Kappa. Before her doctoral studies, Kathryn worked at the Boulder Engineering Company, where she designed electrical and mechanical systems for multi-family residential and commercial buildings across the United States. Her research focuses on modeling and simulation of building and district energy systems and controls, to improve active systems deployed today and design innovative biomimetic solutions for future sustainable and resilient communities. She is an expert in Modelica, and over a dozen of her models have been publicly released in LBNL’s Modelica Buildings Library and the IBPSA Modelica Library. These libraries are part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s next generation tools for advanced building energy modeling and simulation.
Research Interests
Sustainable energy systems (cities, districts, buildings), thermal-fluid science, equation-based modeling (Modelica), numerical simulation, biomimicry/bio-inspired design, human centered design, life cycle assessment, building controls, design thinking
Research Projects
07/2023 - Present: DOE – Optimal Co-Design of Integrated Thermal-Electrical Networks and Control Systems for Grid-interactive Efficient District (GED) Energy Systems (with RPI, UT Austin, LBNL, NREL & Amzur technologies)
07/2023 - Present: Smart, Sustainable and Resilient (SSR) Home Test Facility
08/2021 - 07/2023: DOE IBUILD Graduate Research Fellowship – Biomimetic Integrated Community Energy and Power System (BICEPS)
07/2020 - 07/2022: NSF/DOS – Modernizing Cities via Smart Garden Alleys with Application in Makassar City (with Virginia Tech, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Institut Teknologi Bandung)
03/2019 - 03/2022: DOE – Support for District Energy Simulation with Modelica (with NREL & LBNL)
10/2019 - 08/2021: NSF – BIGDATA: Collaborative Research: IA: Big Data Analytics for Optimized Planning of Smart, Sustainable, and Connected Communities (with Virginia Tech)
Website Design and Implementation
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