The AE senior thesis project is difficult to compare to other senior projects required by other engineering disciplines. The amount of understanding of engineering applications and the rigor involved in this project sets it apart from other engineering programs. I enjoyed having the opportunity to shape my research and proposals around my personal academic and career interests. Although my building was fairly straightforward, I was able to conduct studies and implement a system that will be helpful later in my career. The understanding and appreciation I have gained of mechanical systems in buildings throughout this project is unmeasurable.

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Information provided by my internship, along with continued communication with professionals who worked on the building, aided in my education and understanding throughout the entire project. They not only provided me with a building that had room for improvement but were always willing and ready to help me with whatever questions I had. Because this was my first encounter with such an involved project, their input helped significantly.

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Additionally, continued contact with my future employer was an immense benefit. I decided on my depth study proposal based on projects fulfilled by Burns Mechanical. They have worked on multiple projects with active chilled beams, therefore I wanted to gain a knowledge base before beginning my career. Their advice, input, and recommendations helped my project reach its final conclusions.

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Personally, this project helped me understand mechanical systems as a whole. Throughout both semesters of thesis, I found myself making connections between topics learned over my five years of AE that I had not made before. I had some difficulty learning how to use Trane Trace and understanding its exports. Because I had very little experience using such software, this made fall thesis assignments more difficult than I anticipated.

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Overall, this experience has broadened my understanding and has made me feel more comfortable going forward in my career. I think it is important to remember that thesis is meant to be a valuable experience to enhance your own education, while pulling together information you have already learned. I recommend choosing a building that has potential for improvement or could be useful to study a system that you may not have before. After all, the AE experience is about the innovation and improvement of buildings – but also personal growth and understanding.