Brent Stephens
Director

Dr. Brent Stephens is a Professor and Department Chair in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL. He received his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering in 2012 and his M.S.E. in Environmental and Water Resources Engineering in 2009, both from the University of Texas at Austin. He received his B.S.E. in Civil Engineering from Tennessee Technological University in 2007. His research interests include energy, environmental, and sustainability issues within the built environment. Much of his work has focused on developing novel methods of measuring and analyzing energy use and air quality in buildings. He teaches courses primarily in architectural and environmental engineering at IIT, including CAE 331/513 Building Science, CAE 463/524 Building Enclosure Design, ENVE 576 Indoor Air Pollution, and CAE 553 Measurements and Instrumentation in Architectural Engineering, as well as CAE 110/111 Intro to the Profession I and II.

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Mohammad Heidarinejad
Co-Director

Dr. Mohammad Heidarinejad is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Civil, Architectural, and Environmental Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago, IL. His research interests center on building energy and environmental systems. Mohammad received his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering in 2014 and his M.Sc. in Architectural Engineering in 2011, both from Pennsylvania State University. Previously he was a research assistant professor and research associate in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Maryland College Park. Mohammad is recipient of several prestigious awards, including the ASHRAE New Investigator Award in 2019, IBPSA-USA Emerging Contributor in 2022, Michael J. Graff Teaching Innovation Award in 2022,  and IL Green's Outstanding Volunteer in 2022, in support of his early career research, teaching, and service.  Mohammad is a registered professional engineer (PE). At IIT, Mohammad teaches courses entitled CAE 553 Instrumentation and Measurements in Building Science, CAE 465/526 Energy Conservation in Building Design, and CAE 464/517 HVAC Systems Design.

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Current Members

 

Yicheng Zeng
Ph.D. Student, Environmental Engineering

Yicheng Zeng is a Ph.D. Candidate in Environmental Engineering at Illinois Tech. She is working primarily on combining gravimetric and real-time aerosol sampling in Chicago area homes with a focus on calibration and characterization of indoor aerosol density. She has also worked on making novel in-situ size-resolved measurements of HVAC filtration efficiency. She joined BERG@IIT as an M.S. student in 2016 after earning her B.S. in Marine Science from Tianjin University of Science and Technology.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Jongki Lee
Ph.D. Student, Architectural Engineering

Jongki Lee is a Ph.D. student in Architectural engineering at Illinois tech. He is working on building energy analysis and automation, combining both field measurements and data analysis. He is also interested in building simulation (e.g., EnergyPlus, OpenStudio, CONTAM, and WUFI). He joined BERG in 2019 after earning his B.S. and M.E. in Architectural Engineering at Soongsil University in Seoul, Korea. He has past experience with phase change materials and hygrothermal behavior in buildings.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Mingyu Wang
Ph.D. Student, Architectural Engineering

Mingyu Wang is a Ph.D. student in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. She is working on analyzing the ambient and non-ambient contributions to fine particulate matter in Chicago homes before and after mechanical ventilation and filtration retrofits. She earned her M.S. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech in 2019 after earning her B.S. in Building Environment and Energy from Nanjing Tech University.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Al Mitchell
Ph.D. Student, Architectural Engineering

Al Mitchell is pursuing doctoral studies in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. He is on staff at PHIUS, working in technical capacities ranging from research to project certification. He earned his bachelor's in Architectural Engineering from Illinois Tech and his master's in Architecture from Ball State University.

Co-advisors: Mohammad Heidarinejad and Brent Stephens

Aditya Singh
Ph.D. Student, Environmental Engineering

Aditya Singh is Ph.D. Student in Environmental Engineering at Illinois Tech. Aditya is currently working on the EPA-funded "Filtration for Respiratory Exposure to wildfire smoke from Swamp Cooler Air" (FRESSCA) project. Aditya completed his M.E. in Materials Engineering from Illinois Tech in 2020. Aditya serves as a volunteer on the programs committee for Illinois Green Alliance. His interests are in the field of indoor air quality, recycling food waste, ecosystem restoration, rare earths recovery, and 3D printed materials.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Minyoung Kim
Ph.D. Student, Architectural Engineering

Minyoung Kim is a Ph.D. Student in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. She is working on evaluating the filtration efficiency of particles and gaseous pollutants in continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) machines. She joined IIT in 2021 after earning her M.E. in Architectural Engineering from Chung-Ang University and her B.S. in Architectural Engineering from Hanbat National University. Her past research experience includes investigating solutions to decrease indoor particles and NO2

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Saman Haratian
Ph.D. Student, Architectural Engineering

Saman Haratian is a Ph.D. student in Architectural Engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. He is currently working on improving indoor air quality and indoor temperature monitoring. His main interests lie in Computational Fluid Dynamics, turbulent flow modeling, and multiphase flow simulation. He joined the BERG Lab as a Ph.D. student in 2023 after earning a master of science in Mechanical Engineering from Tarbiat Modares University.

Primary advisors: Mohammad Heidarinejad and Brent Stephens

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Saeed Farhoodi
Ph.D. Student, Architectural Engineering

Saeed Farhoodi joined Illinois Tech and BERG lab as a Ph.D. student in Architectural Engineering in 2023. He is currently working on indoor air quality and thermal comfort assessment projects both numerically and experimentally. Saeed’s background is in Mechanical Engineering and he is interested in indoor air quality, data analysis, computational fluid dynamics, multiphase flows, and multiphysics problems. 

Primary advisors: Mohammad Heidarinejad and Brent Stephens

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Rémi Thélier
Master of Engineering Researcher, Architectural Engineering

Rémi Thélier is a graduate student in Architectural engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology. He is currently working on the battery operated radiator control and the steam trap testing device. His main interests lie in heat transfer, innovative HVAC systems, building energy modeling and he is really interested in the sustainability and resilience of cities and buildings.

Primary advisors: Mohammad Heidarinejad and Brent Stephens

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Arjun Yadapadithaya
Master of Engineering Researcher, Electrical and Computer Engineering

Arjun Yadapadithaya is a first-year graduate student pursuing a Master's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering. With two years of professional experience as a Software Engineer, where he was later promoted to Senior Software Engineer, Arjun brings a wealth of expertise to the field. His primary focus lies in actively implementing Internet of Things (IoT) and Embedded Systems, showcasing his adeptness in devising innovative solutions to automate tasks across various domains.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Nyan Linn Htun
Undergraduate Researcher, Civil Engineering

Nyan Linn Htun is an undergraduate student in Civil Engineering at Illinois Tech. He is currently working on developing battery-operated steam radiator control and steam trap testing device. His interests include drawing, drafting, modeling software, 3D printing, and building structures. He is also planning to pursue a master's degree in Structural Engineering at Illinois Tech.

Co-advisors: Mohammad Heidarinejad and Brent Stephens

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Ashfaq Hussain Siddiqui
Undergraduate Researcher, Mechanical Engineering

Ashfaq Hussain Siddiqui is an undergraduate student in Mechanical Engineering at Illinois Tech. He is currently working on developing a low-cost steam trap testing device at BERG. His interests include CAD, simulations, and prototyping mechanical systems. He is also pursuing a master's degree in Autonomous Systems and Robotics at Illinois Tech, and his experience at BERG has provided a great learning curve in circuits and R&D practices.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Hoang Le
Undergraduate Researcher, Material Sciences and Engineering

Hoang Le is an undergraduate/coterminal student in Material Sciences and Engineering at Illinois Tech. His specialize is 3D modeling and printing. He is working on developing the designs of battery-operated steam radiator control and steam trap testing device. Hoang's experience at BERG Lab has fostered creativity and practical interoperability in engineering projects.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Jacklyn McAninch
Undergraduate Researcher, Computer Science

Jackie McAninch is a 5th year coterminal student pursuing a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and master's degree in Data Science. She is very interested in research on the cutting edge of technology, and likes to learn about blockchain systems, quantum computing, and artificial intelligence. Her favorite coding language is C++, so she has enjoyed gaining some exposure to embedded systems by translating those skills over to Arduino programming with BERG lab.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Muhammad Umer Shakeel
Undergraduate Researcher, Computer and Cybersecurity Engineering

Muhammad Umer Shakeel is a third-year undergraduate student at Illinois Tech, pursuing a degree in Computer and Cybersecurity Engineering. He has a strong interest in computer hardware, designing efficient PCB's, and exploring the dynamic field of cybersecurity. Currently, he is working at the Armor R&D BERG lab, where he actively contributes to a project that focuses on steam trap optimization. In this role, he's using digital signal processing and optimization filters to produce a cost & power efficient steam-trap.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Siddhi Shukla
Master of Computer Science

Siddhi Shukla is a graduate student pursuing Master of Computer Science. With three years of experience as a Data Engineer at Teradata, she has developed a strong foundation in handling large-scale data by implementing efficient data processing solutions. Passionate about software engineering, data analytics, and machine learning, she thrives on exploring the intersection of these fields. With a proficiency in both Python and C++ languages, she has utilized her skills to explore the realm of embedded systems by engaging in Arduino programming. With a strong dedication to continuous learning, she is well-equipped to tackle complex challenges and drive innovation at the BERG Lab.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Samantha Muller
Undergraduate Researcher, Architectural Engineering (Data Science Minor)

Samantha Muller is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Architectural Engineering as well as a Minor in Computer Science at Illinois Tech. She is working on a research project involving Building System Semantic Modeling with the Armour R&D Program. She is a passionate leader who serves on the executive board of the ASHRAE IIT Student Branch and planning committee for the upcoming ASCE Western Great Lakes Student Conference.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Efthymia Sidiropoulou
Undergraduate Researcher, Electrical Engineering and Physics

Efthymia Sidiropoulou is a dedicated third-year undergraduate student concurrently pursuing degrees in Electrical Engineering at Illinois Tech and Physics at Elmhurst University. Her academic journey showcases a keen interest in interdisciplinary projects that bridge hardware and software engineering. Intrigued by the potential of advancing building sustainability through heat pump technology, she enthusiastically joined the Armour R&D program. Her current research at BERG focuses on evaluating the intricate relationships between steam trap functionality, radiator performance, and heat pump optimization, aiming to contribute to the advancement of sustainable building practices.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Khoi Nguyen
Undergraduate researcher, Biomedical Engineering

Khoi Nguyen is a 5th-year co-terminal Biomedical Engineering student specializing in Medical Devices and Biomaterials. With a profound enthusiasm for the field of wearable technology and a focus on addressing Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), he is working on designing a wearable device that measures body parameters and air quality to provide timely notifications to the user and can be used to turn on air cleaners when needed. He is currently being supported by the Armour R&D Program.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Khiem Truong
Undergraduate researcher, Computer Science

Khiem Truong is a recent coterminal graduate of IIT, with a bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science. His background includes extensive work in R&D, namely within the field of computer vision and smart home development. With strong skills in Python and C++, he is helping develop firmware for both battery-operated radiator control and steam trap monitoring, as well as designing algorithms to allow for sustainable usage of these smart devices.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Mustafa Tahir
Undergraduate researcher, Electrical Engineering

Mustafa Tahir is an upcoming electrical engineering graduate at IIT. He will be working on different aspects of the steam trap approach, including the temperature based sensors, DSP, and firmware development. Mustafa specializes in designing and developing hardware, mainly PCBs and FPGAs, and a moderate amount of OOP. Mustafa is the recipient of the Armour R&D Program.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Former Members

 

Matt Nicole Fajardo
Undergraduate Researcher, Computer Engineering

Matt Nicole Fajardo graduated in 2023 with an undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering and master’s degree in Technological Entrepreneurship at Illinois Tech. With a strong interest in PCB Design and Computer Hardware, she conducted research on developing a battery-operated steam radiator control and steam trap testing device. She currently works as an R&D Electronics Engineer and Digital Circuit Designer at the Sandia National Laboratories.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Eduardo Calix-Ortiz
Undergraduate Researcher, Electrical Engineering

Eduardo Calix-Ortiz graduated in December 2023 from a co-terminal program specializing in Computer Hardware Engineering. He is currently an Associate Engineer at ComEd. During his study, his interest was in Radio Frequency (RF) Engineering and Automation Engineering, but he maintained himself flexible to any opportunities that arise. Eduardo's work with BERG Lab has provided him with more insight into what it means to do lab and R&D in the field.

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Insung Kang
PhD Architectural Engineering

Dr. Insung Kang is a tenure track assistant professor at the University of Texas at Arlington. At Illinois Tech, he was a senior research associate working on air filtration to improve indoor air quality and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease outcomes in a high-risk urban population of U.S. military veterans. Before that he earned his Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. His PhD dissertation was on evaluating the impacts of different forms of residential mechanical ventilation systems on energy, indoor air quality, and asthma outcomes in over 40 Chicago area homes. He joined BERG@IIT in 2019 after earning his B.S. and M.E. in Architectural Engineering from Chung-Ang University.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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SeungHwan Wi
Visiting Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr. Seunghwan Wi is an assistant professor in Architectural Engineering at Seoul Tech. Dr. Wi was a visiting postdoctoral researcher in Architectural engineering at Illinois Tech. He earned his Ph.D. in Architectural engineering at Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea. During his stay at Illinois Tech his research interests centered on smart materials for thermal energy storage applications using phase change materials and for reducing building energy by applying PCM in HVAC systems or building envelopes.

Primary supervisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Behzad Salimian Rizi
Ph.D. Architectural Engineering

Dr. Behzad Salimian Rizi earned his Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. He is currently a Consultant Energy Engineer II at Lincus. His PhD dissertation was focused on  research focused on data driven modeling for advancing near optimal control of water cooled chillers. He joined BERG@IIT as a Ph.D. student in 2019 after earning his master of science in Mechanical Engineering from the Iran University of Science and Technology. At IIT, he was a member of ASHRAE and the president of the ASHRAE-IIIT student chapter and has received the ASHRAE IL Scholarship three times. 

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Chris Riley
M.S., Architectural Engineering

Chris Riley earned his M.S. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. His research was primarily focused on developing and applying a novel radiator control system that is designed to automate older existing buildings for which there is currently no automation. He joined BERG@IIT in 2017 as an undergraduate student pursuing his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Illinois Tech. He graduated in 2018 and began his M.S. the same year. Chris also has experience in building construction and as a math tutor for Wilbur Wright College.

Primary advisors: Brent Stephens and Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Marina Beke
M.E., Architectural Engineering

Marina Beke received her M.E. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. She is an Energy Engineer at Elevate. She worked on two projects: (1) funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) focused on evaluating the effects of stand-alone air filtration on health outcomes of military veterans with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and (2) funded by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) focused on Filtration for Respiratory Exposure to wildfire Smoke from Swamp Cooler Air (FRESSCA). Marina earned her B.S. in Architectural Engineering at IIT in 2020.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Bradley Estacio
B.S., Computer Engineering

Bradley Estacio earned his B.S. in Computer Engineering at Illinois Tech. With an interest in research, he has participated in opportunity's such as the Department of Energy's Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships (SULI) program at Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) and Armour R&D at IIT.  He is currently interning at National Institue of Standards and Technology (NIST) under the Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) program. His research is focused on developing semantic models of buildings. 

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Zahida Khan
PH.D., ARCHITECTURE

Dr. Zahida Khan earned her Ph.D. in the College of Architecture at Illinois Tech, and currently is an assistant professor in the College of Architecture at Ball State University. Her research was focused on understanding human behavior in urban outdoor spaces, with a focus agent based modeling to incorporate the effects of microclimates and thermal comfort. She joined IIT in 2015, earning her Master of Architecture in 2017 and successfully received her PhD in 2022. She also coordinated the 2020 International Graduate Student Symposium "Human Behavior, Performance, and Built Environments."

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Akram Ali
Ph.D. Architectural Engineering & Postdoc

Dr. Akram Syed Ali earned his Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech, where he now works as a postdoctoral researcher. He has worked on the development and application of a novel low-cost open-source wireless building environmental sensing and control platform (Elemental), with applications including indoor sensing, radiator control, and steam system fault detection. He joined BERG@IIT as a Ph.D. student in 2016 after earning his M.S. in Architectural Engineering from IIT, focusing on developing the original Open Source Building Science Sensors (OSBSS) project, and his B.S. in Architectural Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Afshin Faramarzi
Ph.D., Architectural Engineering

Dr. Afshin Faramarzi earned his Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech in 2021. He is currently a Consultant Energy Engineer II at Lincus. His research interests include theory and high-performance methods in optimization and applications for optimal control of building systems and energy performance. Afshin is a member of ASHRAE, the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), and the Chicago Building Performance Simulation Association (CHIBPSA). Afshin also earned his B.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Guilan and his M.Sc. in Civil Engineering from Iran University of Science and Technology. 

Primary advisor: Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Torkan Fazli
Ph.D., Architectural Engineering

Dr. Torkan Fazil earned her Ph.D. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. She primarily worked on a set of custom energy and mass balance models for predicting the effects of climate change on energy use, indoor air quality, and chronic health outcomes in U.S. homes. She also worked on novel measurements of size-resolved HVAC filtration efficiency. She joined BERG@IIT in 2014 after earning her M.S. in Architecture from Middle East Technical University and her B.S. in Civil Engineering from Urmia University.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Dan Zhao
Ph.D., Environmental Engineering

Dr. Dan Zhao earned her Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at Illinois Tech. She worked primarily on measuring and modeling the dynamics of microbial communities on building materials subject to high moisture conditions. She also worked on the impact of residential HVAC filtration on indoor particle concentrations and characterizing emissions from 3D printers. She joined BERG@IIT as a Ph.D. student in 2014 after earning her M.S. in Environmental Engineering from Illinois Tech and her B.S. in Applied Meteorological Science from Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Parham Azimi
Ph.D. Environmental Engineering & Postdoc

Dr. Parham Azimi earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from IIT in 2016 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at IIT from 2017 to 2019. In his dissertation work with BERG@IIT he primarily focused on advances in indoor aerosols, including projects in infectious aerosol risk modeling, transport, and control and characterizing particle and gas phase emissions from 3D printers and the impact of control strategies. In his postdoctoral work he lead field measurements of indoor air quality and health outcomes in Chicago area homes. Dr. Azimi joined BERG@IIT in 2013 after earning his B.S. and M.S. in civil/environmental engineering from Sharif University of Technology. Dr. Azimi is now a postdoctoral research at the Harvard School of Public Health. 

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Stephanie Kunkel
Ph.D. Microbiology & Postdoctoral Researcher

Dr. Stephanie "Stevie" Kunkel earned her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2014 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at Illinois Tech from 2014 to 2016 as an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow in the Microbiology of the Built Environment. Her work in BERG@IIT focused on novel measurements of indoor bioaerosol fate, transport, and control using surrogate microorganisms, with implications for infectious disease transmission by informing the effectiveness of HVAC filtration for reducing concentrations of microbes in air and settled on surfaces. Dr. Kunkel also earned her B.S. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of Arizona and now works as an Operations Manager at Abbott in the Chicago area.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Haoran Zhao
Ph.D. Environmental Engineering

Dr. Haoran Zhao earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2019. He joined BERG@IIT in 2014 while pursuing his masters in environmental engineering. His work focused primarily on developing and applying novel methods to measure the transport of outdoor pollutants into the indoor environment. He combined measurements in an unoccupied test apartment on campus as well as field work in Chicago area homes to advance his work on measuring the penetration factor for size-resolved particles, ozone, and nitrogen oxides. Dr. Zhao also earned his B.S. in Agricultural Engineering from China Agricultural University and now works as a postdoctoral researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Kari Abromitis
M.S., Architectural Engineering

Kari Abromitis earned her M.S. in Architectural Engineering at Illinois Tech. She worked to analyze time-series indoor air quality, building operational, and asthma outcome data from a sample of Chicago area homes. She also worked as a research analyst for Made In Space, Inc., and has experience working as a construction project manager and as an economic data analyst. She joined BERG@IIT in 2019 after earning her B.A. in Economics and Environmental Studies at Villanova University and after working for Bloomberg, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and Clune Construction.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Irina Susorova
Ph.D. Architecture

Dr. Irina Susorova earned her Ph.D. in Architecture from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2013. She joined BERG@IIT in 2012 and continued after finishing her Ph.D. and working in the architecture/engineering industry. Her research work focused primarily on evaluating the energy impacts of climbing vegetation on building facades, although she has also worked on several other building enclosure and energy modeling projects. Dr. Susorova also earned her Master of Architecture from St. Petersburg University of Technology and Design and now works as a Building Performance Specialist at PAE Consulting Engineers in Seattle.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Tommy Zakrzewski
Ph.D. Civil Engineering

Dr. Thomas Zakrzewski earned his Ph.D. in Civil Engineering (Architectural Engineering concentration) from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2017. His work in BERG@IIT focused on advancing commercial building distributed thermal and electrical energy distribution design sizing and performance optimization methods for microgrid applications. Dr. Zakrzewski also earned his Masters in Architectural Engineering from Illinois Tech in 2010 and his B.A. in Audio Arts and Acoustics from Columbia College in 2007. Dr. Zakrzewski now works as Vice President of Integrative Energy Engineering at HKS in Chicago and teaches as an adjunct professor at IIT.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Brett Horin
M.S. Architectural Engineering

Brett Horin earned his M.S. in Architectural Engineering from IIT in 2018. His work in BERG@IIT focused on optimizing buildings for natural ventilation using CFD and artificial neural networks. Brett also earned his B.S. in Civil Engineering with a Certificate in Architectural Engineering & Design from Northwestern University. Brett now works as an Energy and Commissioning Engineer for Baumann Consulting in Chicago. At IIT he also led an interdisciplinary team competing for the Department of Energy's annual Race to Zero competition, leading them to a 2nd place finish in their category.

Primary advisor(s): Brent Stephens & Mohammad Heidarinejad

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Honnie Leinartas
M.S. Civil Engineering

Honnie Leinartas earned her M.S. in Civil Engineering (Architectural Engineering concentration) from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2014. Her work in BERG@IIT focused on optimizing energy efficiency retrofits for the existing housing stock in Chicago using cloud-based simulations. You can read about her Chicagoland housing stock modeling work here. Honnie also earned her B.A. in Architecture from the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) in 2007. Honnie now works as a Senior Energy Specialist at Elevate Energy.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Tiffanie Ramos
M.S. Environ. Engineering

Tiffanie Ramos earned her M.S. in Environmental Engineering from IIT in 2014. Her work in BERG@IIT focused on characterizing building environmental, operational, and occupancy factors hypothesized to impact microbial communities in the Hospital Microbiome Project. Honnie also earned her B.S. in Biological Sciences from the University of California, Irvine, and now works as an Air Quality Engineer at Tetra Tech in Portland, Oregon. Tiffanie also won a Starr-Fieldhouse Fellowship at IIT.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Zeineb El Orch
M.S. Civil Engineering

Zeineb El Orch earned her M.S. in Civil Engineering from Illinois Institute of Technology in 2013. Her work in BERG@IIT focused on modeling indoor particles of outdoor origin across the U.S. residential building stock and also modeling the life cycle costs of different duct designs in single-family homes. Zeineb also earned her Bachelor of Engineering in Civil Engineering and Town Planning from Institut National des Sciences Appliquées (INSA) Lyon and now works as a Project Manager at Permasteelisa in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Primary advisor: Brent Stephens

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Meng Ju (Mackenzie) Lin
Graduate researcher
Jun Lu
Graduate researcher
Erica Acton
Undergraduate researcher
Deion Debose
Undergraduate researcher
Boyang “Bobo” Dong
Undergraduate researcher
Joseph Chee Poh Huan
Undergraduate researcher
Zack Zanzinger
Undergraduate researcher
Jihad Zeid
Undergraduate researcher
Rou Yi Yeap
Undergraduate researcher
Nina Townley
Undergraduate researcher
Dina Curioni
Undergraduate researcher
Ben Wachholz
Undergraduate researcher
Sara Glade
Undergraduate researcher
Hailey Kunkel
Undergraduate researcher
Utsav Gandhi
Undergraduate researcher
Matthew Thomas
Undergraduate researcher
Roxanne Myers
Undergraduate researcher

Family Members

 

Riley Stephens
Chasing Squirrels and Eating Bugs