Category: Author: Charles Xie
Visual Process Analytics (VPA) is a data mining platform that supports research on student learning through using complex tools to solve complex problems. The complexity of this kind of learning activities of students entails complex process data (e.g….
Geothermal energy is the thermal energy generated or stored in the Earth. The ground maintains a nearly constant temperature six meter (20 feet) under, which is roughly equal to the average annual air temperature at the location. In Boston, this is about 13 °C (55 °F). You can feel the effect of the geothermal energy […]
Energy3D Version 5.1 has incorporated a new feature: programmable thermostats (Figure 1). This allows users to add a programmable thermostat to each building in the design. Such a thermostat allows building researchers to model the occupants’ schedules and thermal comfort preferences, making it possible to include a human dimension into building simulation.
Figure 1A classic experiment to show thermal equilibration is to put a small Petri dish filled with some hot or cold water into a larger one filled with tap water around room temperature, as illustrated in Figure 1. Then stick one thermometer in the in…
Figure 1 The year 2016 marks the 200th anniversary of an important invention of Robert Stirling — the Stirling engine. So I thought I should start this year’s blogging with a commemoration article about this truly ingenious invention. A Stirling engine is a closed-cycle heat engine that operates by cyclic compression and expansion of air […]
Figure 1: Evaporative cooling Scientists have long relied on powerful imaging techniques to see things invisible to the naked eye and thus advance science. Chemical imaging is a technique for visualizing chemical composition and dynamics in time and space as actual events unfold. In this sense, infrared (IR) imaging is a chemical imaging technique as […]
Copyright: ACS Nano, American Chemical SocietySelf-assembled peptide nanostructures have unique properties that lead to applications in electrical devices and functional molecular recognition. Exactly how to control the self-assembly process in a solut…
Full-scale building energy simulationInsolation analysis of a city blockWe are pleased to announce a milestone version of our Energy3D CAD software. In addition to fixing numerous bugs, Version 5.0 includes numerous new features that we have recently a…
Fig. 1 3D model of a real house near Boston (2,150 sq ft). On August 3, 2015, President Obama announced the Clean Power Plan – a landmark step in reducing carbon pollution from power plants that takes real action on climate change. Producing clean energy from rooftop solar panels can greatly mitigate the problems in […]
Fig. 1: The analyzed house.Energy3D already provides a set of powerful analysis tools that users can use to analyze the annual energy performance of their designs. For experts, the annual analysis tools are convenient as they can quickly evaluate their…