Jessica is this year’s Research Promotion Chair. Learn more about her here!
- Name: Jessica Mangler
- Company and Position: Mechanical Engineer at Ross & Baruzzini
- What does your company do/provide? Consulting Engineering Services
- How long have you worked for them? How long have you worked in this industry? I have worked for Ross & Baruzzini for almost 2 years, but I’ve been in the HVAC industry for 6 years.
- How did you come to work in your field? My degree is in Architectural Engineering, which targets graduates to work in the building industry. I specialized in mechanical systems after I finished my thermodynamics class and decided that I really enjoyed this field of engineering!
- What is your main job function? What are you responsible for? I work on the Higher Education & Research team at my firm so the majority of my projects are University/College work in the surrounding area.
- What is the biggest challenge you face in your job? Juggling different projects, deadlines, and ASHRAE commitments. It’s a challenge, but I love challenges!
- What’s your favorite thing about working in this industry? The people! I think our industry has great camaraderie, especially within ASHRAE. Some of my closest friends are people I’ve met through ASHRAE!
- What’s your least favorite thing about working in this industry? This is a hard question but I don’t like when people/processes/designs get stuck in their old ways. Another one of the things I love about our industry is that it’s always evolving and there’s so much potential for improving designs and saving energy. While it’s a challenge to always be constantly changing, I think it’s important to be mindful of our impact on the environment and strive to do our best.
- What’s your involvement in ASHRAE? At the Society level, I serve on three different technical committees (TC’s). I’m the webmaster and a corresponding member for TC 6.2 (District Energy) and TC 6.1 (Hydronic & Steam Equipment & Systems). Additionally, I’m the secretary and a voting member for TC 8.12 (Desiccant Dehumidification Equipment & Components). I’m also scheduled to present a technical session at the Orlando Winter Meeting. At the Chapter level, I serve on the board of governors (currently as the Research Promotion Chair). Additionally, I’ve participated in the YEA Leadership U and LeaDRS programs, which are awesome!
- What is your responsibility on the Board? I’m the current Research Promotion (RP) Chair which means I’m in charge of raising money from our Chapter to meet our RP Goal for the year. Money raised for RP goes towards HVAC&R research projects. Results from these research projects are used for papers presented at ASHRAE Society Meetings, to update the annual volumes of the ASHRAE Handbooks, and to update ASHRAE Standards & Guidelines. If you’d like to support ASHRAE RP, you can make a donation at the following link! 🙂 http://www.ashrae.org/contribute
- What advice would you give someone just graduating college and starting in the HVAC world? Get involved in ASHRAE! It’s a great organization that allows you to network with peers and provides an abundance of learning opportunities for anyone wanting to work in the HVAC industry.
- What’s something you’ve learned through your involvement in ASHRAE? How to talk to strangers and network. This is harder than it sounds and doesn’t come easy to everyone! But once you learn to put yourself out there, you realize that there are so many amazing people to meet and things to get involved in.
- What made you want to be involved in ASHRAE? I was an ASHRAE member in college at Kansas State University. K-State has a very strong student chapter which set me up to be an involved ASHRAE member when I graduated. As a student ASHRAE member, I attended Society Meetings and regular Chapter meetings. So early on in my career, I saw the benefits of being involved in ASHRAE (both at the Chapter level and Society level) and knew that I wanted to be a part of this association.
- Name one person who has been a mentor or an inspiration to you in your life. It’s hard to pick just one person! However, Julia Keen was my advisor and professor in college. She’s currently on the Board of Directors and is very involved in ASHRAE. I credit her with introducing me to ASHRAE and has continued to serve as a resource to me whenever I have questions about how things work within ASHRAE or even questions about my career.
- Do you have a favorite sport or team? Of course! If you can’t tell by the amount of purple in my wardrobe, I’m a huge K-State fan! Go Wildcats! #EMAW
- What’s your favorite type of music or favorite band? I’m very particular about music but I’m more into Indie/Folk stuff. I’m not a fan of country music, sorry not sorry! And when I’m not listening to music, I listen to a lot of podcasts!
- What’s your favorite thing to do for fun? Travel! I just finished a vacation where I hiked/camped with a few friends at Arches, Bryce Canyon, and Zion National Parks in Southern Utah. It was absolutely beautiful and I had a blast!
- Where is the coolest place you have traveled? Or what was the best vacation you’ve ever had? Last year I went to Prague, Vienna, and Budapest with a group of friends and that has to be the best/coolest vacation yet. All of those cities are amazing and I’d love to go back and visit!
- When you retire and have a lot more time on your hands, what will you do? Haha, probably more travel! There are so many places I’d love to visit and re-visit!
