Megan McHugh is a PhD student in the Department of Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering (CAEE) studying Sustainable Systems at The University of Texas at Austin, and she works as a Data Scientist at Siemens Smart Infrastructure on the Autonomous Building Intelligence team. Her research interests are in managing energy efficiency and sustainability in the built environment, fault detection and diagnostics, preventative maintenance, digital twins, machine learning, industrial automation, autonomous/smart building technologies, and HVAC systems.
Megan completed her MSE in Sustainable Systems from the University of Texas at Austin in December 2018 and during that time was an energy engineering intern with UT Facilities Services and working on topics including building energy consumption/reduction calculations, data analysis, and building automation systems. She was also a Teaching Assistant in the Cockrell School of Engineering for classes in HVAC Design and Building Environmental Systems, and is currently member of Dr. Zoltan Nagy’s Intelligent Environments Laboratory. Her Master’s thesis was on fault detection and diagnostics for HVAC systems.
Prior to attending UT Austin, Megan received her B.S. in Sustainable Built Environments from the College of Architecture, Planning and Landscape Architecture at The University of Arizona in May 2017. She worked with Dr. Cho Lik Chan in the Department of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering for her five years of undergraduate research on projects such as the Department of Energy, Multidisciplinary University Research Initiative concentrated solar power project; the NASA Space Grant, radiation properties measurement project; and the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Consortium, Stirling engine project, which later evolved into her senior capstone project, Solar Powered Stirling Engine. For more information you can visit Megan’s online portfolio or reach her at LinkedIn.
