关于减排的具体想法
朱莉安·威尔
除非你是工程师, 建筑师或建造者, 你可能不会花很多时间考虑混凝土.
它就在那里, 地下的:大部分在脚下或集成到更大的结构中的, 你通常考虑的是整体而不是部分.
So you might not know that concrete production and use is one of the leading causes of global CO2 emissions, 在全球范围内大约占8%. 在全球范围内，它比航空燃料排放的二氧化碳多得多(大约为2.5%). 如果混凝土工业是一个国家, 它将成为世界第四大排放国, 仅次于中国, 印度和美国.
但是印第安纳理工学院的一个学生团队知道这一切，甚至更多. 此外，他们对如何解决这个问题也有自己的想法.
The trio researched this major global problem alongside other world-class scholars aiming to solve thermodynamics challenges during the annual JUMP (Join the discussion, Unveil innovation, Make connections, Promote tech-to-market) into STEM 建筑科学竞赛.
竞争对手的水平很高, including doctoral candidates and other students from engineering powerhouses such as Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, 内布拉斯加大学林肯分校, 北卡罗来纳州农业和技术州立大学, 普渡大学, 北卡罗来纳大学夏洛特分校和伍斯特理工学院.
That didn’t stop the 新葡京博彩 team from securing a solid showing at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Oak Ridge, 田纳西州. 雅各布·里奇和刘易斯·罗伯茨, 解决具体问题的团队成员, 为进入最后一轮比赛铺平了道路.
They weren’t alone: Senior 撒母耳牛津大学图书馆 reached the final round with his team’s green roof building solutions. Sam’s team was brainstorming topics when he came across the application of green roofs in Asia, where they’re growing rapidly — literally and figuratively — on new and existing development.
该团队喜欢让城市变得绿色的想法，而不仅仅是数字, 通过捕获碳和调节建筑的温度, 还有视觉效果, 为城市空间注入植物和树木的色调，构成绿色屋顶. Their proposed solution includes tax benefits for the construction of green roofs and specialized training for industry professionals.
山姆还在比赛中获得了电梯游说挑战的最高荣誉.
“对学生们来说，这是一项杰出的成就。. 托马斯·特兰，印第安纳理工大学机械工程助理教授.
学生们参加了JUMP into STEM竞赛，作为博士的课堂项目. Tran的ME 4200 -热科学调查课程在2023年秋季. 他们的任务是在挑战主题中确定创新的解决方案, 比如“保持凉爽(或炎热)”,，重点为建筑蓄热，优化能源利用, enhance sustainability and increase resilience; or “You and Me, 碳自由,“减少美国的碳排放.S. 楼宇(住宅或商业、新建或现有).
学生’ problem statements were required to address embodied carbon emissions and/or operational carbon emissions. Their response had to lead to significant reductions in carbon emissions and increased affordability for stakeholders.
总的来说,博士. Tran的班级派出了六支队伍. Senior mechanical engineering students Lewis and Jacob along with Marley Jackson formed the Concrete Evolution team to assess methods of carbon dioxide recycling and injection during concrete manufacturing, 减少碳排放，同时保持混凝土性能的完整性.
And Sam worked with fellow senior mechanical engineering students and Eco Skyline team members Tobias Machourek and Nathan Boyleaims to identify ways to grow the number of green roofs (vegetated systems installed on building rooftops) sprouting in major cities to counteract mass carbon emissions.
While all of the students took part in their teams’ research to explore solutions and draft papers on their topics, only those who applied to land a paid summer internship could take part in the JUMP into STEM competition in 田纳西州.
Sending two teams to the finals from 新葡京博彩 becomes even more impressive when you consider that just nine teams are selected from the 60 to 80 who enter nationwide.
这已经是第二年. Tran的学生参加了JUMP into STEM项目. It’s also the second year that his students have been selected for internships at U.S. 能源部国家实验室. 去年, 肯尼迪Moonin, 林赛阿尔布雷特, 雅各布·弗罗格和但丁·西拉库萨, 所有大四的机械工程专业学生, formed the Repurpose EV Batteries team with the aim of upcycling old electric vehicle battery modules for backup power systems, 针对农村社区或电力供应不确定的社区. 他们在It 's Electric挑战赛中获得了第一名.
在决赛中, 参与者向评审小组展示他们的JUMP into STEM作品, 了解建筑科学的职业道路, 与该领域的专家建立联系, 参观国家实验室等等.
The chance to test their chops against the top young researchers in the country is no small opportunity for Dr. Tran的学生. “It’s a different kind of knowledge they have right now compared to the graduate students,” he says. 然而，很明显，他们已经准备好承受热力学领域的压力了.
Sam was surprised by what he learned not only about capturing carbon, but also about himself. “I think what impacted me most is really learning something about how to benefit the world,山姆说. “他们向我展示了很多我没有真正想过的东西.
“起初，我主要考虑的是汽车领域, but it opened my eyes to realize that you need to just branch out and look at a lot of different paths before you actually know what you want to do. 我真的很喜欢. They’re teaching me a lot about what we learned in our classes and how they actually apply to the real world.”
“这是一次非常独特的经历，”JUMP into STEM竞赛的刘易斯说. “Not many people get to go to a national lab where loads of research is done and where basically the experts of the field are doing research. Getting to see that whole environment just is quite a unique experience that not many people can get.”
这也扩大了他的职业生涯的潜在途径. “一开始我真的不知道我想进入哪个领域. 显然，我在科技或热力学方面有我真正喜欢的主题，”刘易斯说. “但是在经历了这场比赛之后, I realized how big of a thing needs to be done to change how we do things now and technologies that we need to reduce CO2 emissions and global warming before its devastating impact around the world. 所以这真的改变了我对我想做的事情的想法.”
而印第安纳理工大学的竞争对手今年并没有赢得挑战, they so impressed the judges that each is being offered the chance to intern at one of the national laboratories. 这肯定会巩固, 可以这么说, 他们的支持者和同事的网络，当他们冒险进入工作世界.
“那里的人们——老实说，这有点不真实，”山姆说. “每个人脸上都挂着微笑. They knew that they were just doing something that helped (the environment) on such a big scale, 这些联系是惊人的. 我已经上了领英，和那里的很多人都有联系, and a lot of them were saying they could help me with anything I needed if I got in touch.”
“当我们被选中进入决赛时，我的兴趣被激发了，”刘易斯说. “然后我对国家实验室和他们的工作做了更多的研究. 当我们在那里的时候，真是太棒了，因为我们参观了一些地方. 我们遇到的人——每个人都很友好. 就像他们在那里支持你，确保你做到最好. 所以这是一次很好的经历.”
关于JUMP into STEM
The JUMP into STEM program is a building sciences competition for undergraduate and graduate students at U.S. 大专院校. It began as a crowdsourcing community launched by Oak Ridge National Laboratory in 2015 and now aims to attract bright students from a variety of majors to building science via annual challenges. 由能源部资助, it’s jointly run by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
Team submissions are evaluated for technical potential, innovation, diversity and applicability. 从三个挑战主题中选出一名获奖者.
Challenge winners and additional teams are invited to compete in the JUMP into STEM Final Competition. Final competition winners receive a 10-week paid summer internship at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 橡树岭国家实验室或太平洋西北国家实验室.