Student Activities & Young Engineers in ASHRAE Report October 2018

We are excited to have the newsletter back in use, a thank you goes out to Kent for making it happen! The goal of SA and YEA is to introduce students into the industry and get the young professionals to see the value of the ASHRAE chapter. We think this newsletter will be great for communication and updating the community.

This year started off great with class presentations at NAIT and the U of A. We were able to speak to three classes of students and will be sending out the details for the annual scholarship later this month. We have been discussing the idea of entering the annual ASHRAE design competition as a U of A Mechanical Engineering Capstone Project, and will be aiming for the winter 2019 semester if it goes through.

As briefly mentioned during the September meeting, YEA has joined the YP Merge community, a group meant to bridge the gap between all young professionals in the construction industry. This is a group effort involving the existing associations of owners, developers, architects, engineers, & contractors and was formed with the belief that collaboration throughout the industry would benefit everyone. It has come to life as a shared calendar and is gaining traction throughout the Edmonton community. We are excited to be part of such a forward thinking group and can’t wait to see what kind of benefits this holds for our future.

Riyaz Khair, Cody Byar, Jonathan Garvey

Cody Byar - Student Activities & YEA Co-Chair 2017-2018 / 2018-2019

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My name is Cody Byar, I am a born and raised Edmontonian. I graduated from the Building Environmental Systems Technology Program at NAIT in 2016 and started working for my current employer straight out of school.

I took on the YEA/Student Activities Co-Chair position with Riyaz Khair again this year and enjoy meeting industry students and organizing ASHRAE events.

In my spare time I’m an avid skier in the winter and camper in the summer with my lovely wife. We enjoy spending time with our beagle, dwarfed schnauzer, and slightly neurotic cat. I’m also pursuing my Bachelor of Technology through NAIT.

I’m looking forward to another great year with ASHRAE!

Riyaz Khair - Student Activities & YEA Co-Chair 2017-2018 / 2018-2019

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by Riyaz Khair

Student Activities & Young Engineers in ASHRAE Co-Chair

I joined ASHRAE in my last year of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta and met my now current employer at one of the Chapter’s monthly meetings. There, I get to work with today’s cutting edge tech in indoor-air-quality and room-level controls. I routinely came out to our chapter’s monthly meetings, but decided to get more involved the last couple years.

As part of the NAC Board of Governors, I reach out to students interested (or oblivious) about the building sciences industry - bolstering curiosity and questions. I work to bridge the gap between the students and the industry. 

As part of YEA, I am working to foster the building sciences community amongst the young (young at heart!). Getting to know the people in your industry is great: other perspectives and experiences help you grow professionally and personally.

If you have suggestions, ideas, or just want to reach out – please do!

riyaz@aquaair.ab.ca