Fellows
Javed Narain
M.S. (2nd year), Civil(Structural) Engineering
Year in graduate program: 2nd year
Research Topic: Solar Decathlon Project
Partner School:P.S. 399 Eugene Clark School,
P.S. 270 – Johann Dekalb
Partner Teacher:Sharon Holliday,
Nikki Shuler
Email Javed
Research
Javed is currently working with Professor Masoud Ghandehari as a part of the team, comprising of Polytechnic Institute of NYU, Worcester Polytechnic Institute and Ghent University, competing in the Solar Decathlon China 2013 competition. The main goal of this project is to build a fully functional home that is powered entirely by photovoltaic cells (solar panels), while keeping the home affordable and aesthetically pleasing. Our team has decided to go with a more passive solar building design to keep down the demand of electricity needed for the heating and cooling in winter/summer months. One such way, the area of my research, is through the use of microencapsulated phase change material incorporated into concrete tiles. At the core of these microencapsulated particles is a paraffin wax with a specific phase change temperature. As the temperature rises above this, the wax melts and absorbs heat and then releases this heat as the temperature cools. This serves to keep the temperature in the home more controlled and within the human comfort zone.
Integration in The Class Room
Javed plans on integrating his research into the 4th and 5th grade science classrooms. His plan is to expose students to negative effects of fossil fuels in our environment and alternative methods present to reduce these effects. From his first week in the schools, he has noticed that science lessons have already been taught on renewable/nonrenewable resources and pollution. Therefore, he plans to expand upon this by bringing his research to the classrooms and exposing students to solar panels and methods of passive solar building design.
1 - AMPS Fellow; 2 - CBRI Fellow