Penn State Architectural Engineering
AE Research Scholars connects undergraduate students with faculty mentors for paid research positions in Architectural Engineering. Explore real-world problems, develop research skills, and present your work to the broader community.
About the Program
AE Research Scholars pairs undergraduates with faculty mentors for hands-on research experience. The position pays $15/hour with an average commitment of about 5 hours per week, though some students work up to 10. You and your mentor decide the schedule that works for your project.
All student researchers participate in a poster session at the end of each year (April) to present their progress and accomplishments. The program also connects you with information about graduate school fellowships, research scholarships, and professional development opportunities through our Microsoft Teams channel.
Research Areas
When you apply, you'll rate your interest in each area. We use these to match you with faculty whose research aligns with your interests.
Structural optimization, digital fabrication, historic preservation, generative design, and conservation of built heritage.
Smart building controls, energy modeling, HVAC optimization, indoor air quality, and human-building interaction.
Building envelopes, smart facades, daylighting, lighting science, color science, and health impacts of lighting.
Virtual reality, digital twins, robotic construction, integrated project delivery, sustainable concretes, and automation.
Faculty Mentors
Structural optimization, digital fabrication, generative design
Historic structures, digital preservation, laser scanning, conservation
Mass timber structures, novel experimental testing, material performance and evaluation, hybrid buildings
Advanced materials, experimental structural engineering, computational modeling
Structural control, smart structures and health monitoring, digital twin, sustainable and resilient design, community resilience, extreme events
Smart buildings, human-building interaction, intelligent controls
Building energy modeling, HVAC controls, energy optimization
Data centers, building to grid integration, net zero energy community
AI and smart building, building commissioning, indoor environment for wellbeing, hospital building
Indoor air quality, ventilation, human exposure to pollutants
High-performance building envelopes, smart facades, BIPV, daylighting
Indoor and outdoor lighting, color science, health and behavioral effects of light, sustainability and environmental impacts of light
Construction robotics, digital twins, virtual reality, immersive construction technology
Robotic construction, integrated project delivery, automation
Sustainable concretes, alternative cement materials, construction materials