Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Panel
YEA (Young Engineers of ASHRAE) and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) Committees presents virtual DEI Panel!
This is a joint event with the Alaska ASHRAE Chapter.
Our panel of distinguished ASHRAE members will discuss their experience with and interpretation of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the ASHRAE Society Presidential topic of this year.
We are very proud to have our VI Chapter member and Chapter’s DEI Chair Sara Nikoofard on the panel, along with members of ASHRAE Society’s Committee Members Devin Abellon and Susanna Hanson!
Join us virtually on Wednesday, April 26th at 6 PM!
Panelists
Sara Nikoofard, PhD, PEng, CMVP
Sara Nikoofard is an Energy Efficiency Standards Engineer with BC Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. She provides technical analysis and advice on performance and energy efficiency gains achieved by technological, system, or design improvements in the built environment. Sara supports the design, implementation, delivery, monitoring, and evaluation of energy efficiency regulations, policy, research, or projects, including standards under the Energy Efficiency Act.
Sara has extensive experience in building energy simulation and modeling, energy savings and GHG emissions reduction, techno-economic assessment, Net-Zero Energy buildings, and integrating renewable energy technologies. She has worked in public and private sector as well as academia, which provides a diverse perspective on building energy efficiency and decarbonization.
Sara holds a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Dalhousie University and did her master’s and bachelor’s degrees from Iran. Working and studying in both countries with diverse cultural differences, unique climates, and differences in codes and standards gave Sara a great perspective on considering Diversity, Equity and Inclusion in her work.
Sara is serving as Chair of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion for ASHRAE Vancouver Island Chapter and in the past, she held the position of Chair of Sustainability in the same chapter.
Devin Abellon, PE
Devin Abellon is the Business Development Manager for Engineering Services at Uponor North America. He has over 29 years of experience in the HVAC and plumbing industries with a focus on sustainable building design and construction. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of California at Santa Barbara and is a registered professional engineer in California and Arizona. Abellon is an active member of the American Society of Plumbing Engineers (ASPE) and the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE). He serves on the ASHRAE Board of Directors as the Region X Director and Regional Chair.
Susanna Hanson, CEM, DGCP
Susanna Hanson is principal engineer for Honeywell, where she is focused on refrigerant codes and standards to enable their safe use, whether in HVACR or other applications.
Prior to joining Honeywell, she spent 25 years with Trane, serving in technical roles with diverse responsibilities. She is a Certified Energy Manager who helped Trane achieve science-based targets on sustainability and climate action and advised product development teams on energy codes.
She is currently serving ASHRAE as chair of Standards Committee, as Director and Chair of Region VI, and as a member of the Board of Directors Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Subcommittee. She was a 12-year member of ASHRAE 90.1. She earned her engineering degree from the University of Florida, focusing on energy auditing, energy management and building energy and simulation techniques. Susanna holds seven patents in the areas of HVAC system and control for chilled-water systems with thermal storage and geothermal elements.
Andrea Hulman-Watsjold, PE
Andrea Hulman-Watsjold has seven years of experience as an RF (radio frequency) and electrical engineer and currently works at Pacific Dataport, Inc. Born and raised in Anchorage, she holds two bachelor degrees: Bachelor of Arts in Physics from Scripps College (2012) and a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering from University of Alaska, Anchorage (2015).
Andrea began her career at GCI in 2015, joining the RF Engineering team in Network Services. While there she worked on regulatory compliance projects and maintained satellite infrastructure that provided statewide telephony and internet services. One of her major projects was to migrate services statewide from one satellite to another while simultaneously upgrading aging infrastructure. This required over a year of planning across different departments before execution, which took a further six months. She joined Pacific Dataport in the spring of 2021 and is currently finalizing preparations for the launch of the Aurora4A satellite, anticipated in early 2023. Andrea is responsible for designing the new satellite’s hub infrastructure and the smaller terminals placed at customer locations.
In her spare time, Andrea enjoys reading and tabletop gaming with friends. She has performed with the Anchorage Concert Chorus for eleven seasons, including during their recent performance at Carnegie Hall.
Sam Ranasigamani
Sam Ratnasigamani was born in Tirunelveli, India, a very tropical place, and had all his schooling from elementary to undergraduate in Chennai (old name, current Madras), India. Sam graduated from University of Madras with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Mechanical Engineering and moved to Dekalb, Illinois, USA where he completed a Master of Science in Industrial Engineering from Northern Illinois University in 2005. Sam enjoyed his learning and working experience in the Midwest USA.
He completed his graduate project in the design of heating systems for smart homes and moved to Alaska in 2006 after securing a job as an Intern for a construction firm in Anchorage. He has now lived in Anchorage for the past 17 years. Sam is currently employed at RSA Engineering where he focuses on mechanical design for commercial buildings in Southcentral Alaska. Sam enjoys the outdoors, playing cricket, and going to libraries with his two teenage children.
