SU professor Jensen Zhang receives prestigious professorship in Denmark to perform research in indoor environmental quality

SU professor Jensen Zhang receives prestigious professorship in Denmark to perform research in indoor environmental qualityJanuary 17, 2007Kelly Homan Rodoskikahoman@syr.edu

Jianshun “Jensen” Zhang, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering in Syracuse University’s L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science (LCS) and director of SU’s Building Energy and Environmental Systems (BEES) Laboratory, has been awarded the Otto Monsted Visiting Professorship at the International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in Copenhagen.

The prestigious three-month professorship is awarded to prominent researchers in the indoor environmental quality (IEQ) and energy fields, and is intended to foster collaboration.

Zhang will travel to Denmark May 20-June 20 of this year and May-August of 2008 to teach and perform research in the following subject areas:

• indoor-outdoor interactions, such as the infiltration of outdoor ozone into an indoor space, and their impact on indoor quality;
• the relationship between subjective evaluation and physical measurements of indoor environmental quality; and
• the development of a system simulation model for evaluating the effectiveness of different indoor air quality control strategies, such as emission source reduction and ventilation and air purification.

Zhang will also give seminars in the areas of emissions, air purification and building performance simulations.

DTU’s International Centre for Indoor Environment and Energy is the top facility in the world for the study of indoor environmental quality. Its founder and first director, P. Ole Fanger, was the world’s foremost researcher on IEQ and how it affects the health and productivity of humans. Fanger, named a University Professor at Syracuse University in March 2006, worked diligently to build collaborative bridges between DTU, LCS and the Syracuse Center of Excellence in Environmental and Energy Systems. He died in September 2006 while on a weeklong visit to Syracuse.

“I am honored to have this opportunity, and forever grateful to Professor Ole Fanger for his nomination of me for the position,” says Zhang. “It is a great opportunity for me to learn from some of the best minds in the IEQ field at DTU and from around the world.”

Zhang says he is particularly interested in developing long-term collaborative research projects that will effectively use both DTU’s and SU’s unique capabilities and research facilities in the areas of indoor-outdoor interaction, the relationship between perceived and measured indoor air quality, and indoor environmental quality system models.

“Advancement in these areas will significantly improve the understanding of indoor air quality (IAQ) problems and help develop practical methods for improving IAQ,” Zhang says.

“The L.C. Smith College of Engineering and Computer Science is very proud of Jensen Zhang’s accomplishments,” says LCS Interim Dean Shiu-Kai Chin. “This DTU award is a testimonial to the quality of Jensen’s work and to the fact that engineering is a global enterprise.”

“Jensen Zhang’s appointment at DTU is a terrific opportunity for our partner firms and institutions,” says Edward A. Bogucz, executive director of the Syracuse CoE. “Jensen will help communicate our partners’ capabilities to potential customers abroad, and he is sure to develop both ideas and relationships that will lead to innovative new products for firms here in Central New York.”