Principal Investigator

Dr. O’Neill is J. Mike Walker ’66 Associate Professor at J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering in Texas A&M University at College Station, Texas. She was previously an Associate Professor at The University Of Alabama between 2013 to 2019. From 2006 to 2013, she was a Principal Investigator at United Technologies Research Center (UTRC), East Hartford, Connecticut, where she was responsible for the development and field-implement of advanced building optimal controls, building performance monitoring, energy diagnostics and low energy/net zero energy buildings. She was with Cimetrics in Boston as an Energy Analyst from 2005 to 2006. Originally from China, Dr. O’Neill received her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Building and Environmental Thermal Systems Research Group at Oklahoma State University in 2004, and is a registered Professional Engineer. She has led or been involved with proposals leading to external research awards totaling over $15.5 million since 2014, and has over 110 journal and conference papers published. She is an active member of ASHRAE and IBPSA. She was a member of IBPSA–USA Board of Directors from 2011 to 2013. Currently, she is the Secretary of ASHRAE TC 7.5 Smart Building Systems, and is on the Editorial Board of Journal of Building Performance Simulation & an Associate Editor of Science and Technology for the Built Environment.
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Zheng O’Neill, PhD, PE
J. Mike Walker ’66 Associate Professor
J. Mike Walker ’66 Department of Mechanical Engineering
Texas A&M University
Mechanical Engineering Office Building (MEOB) 326
College Station, TX, 77843
Ph: 979-845-4931 | Email: ZOneill@tamu.edu
Research Associate
Arkasama Bandyopadhyay, Research Assistant Professor
- B.S., Oklahoma State University
- Ph.D., The University of Texas at Austin
- Research Projects: Ground Source Heat Pump System, Smart Building Service
Yangyang Fu, Post-doc Researcher
- M.S., Tongji University
- Ph.D., University of Colorado Boulder
- Research Projects: Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings, Fault Detection and Diagnostics
Zhiyao Yang, Post-doc Researcher
- M.S., Purdue University
- Ph.D., Purdue University
- Research Projects: Thermal Storage, Heat Pump System, Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings
Graduate Student
Xing Lu, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Architectural Engineering, Tongji University
- M.S., Energy and Power Engineering, Tongji University
- Research Projects: Demand-controlled ventilation, Grid-interactive efficient buildings, Fault Detection and Diagnostics
Tao Yang, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Architectural Engineering, Central South University
- M.S., Energy and Power Engineering, Tongji University
- Research Projects: CO2-based Demand Control Ventilation, Occupant-Centric Control, Smart Homes
Fan Feng, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Architectural Engineering, Tongji University
- M.S., Energy and Power Engineering, Tongji University
- Research Projects: Adaptive Building Controls, Optimization-based Control in Buildings
Zhihong Pang, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Architectural Engineering, Tongji University
- Research Projects: Uncertainty Quantification, Low-Cost Particle Sensor, EnergyPlus Modeling, Occupant-centric HVAC Control
Caleb Calfa, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Michigan State University
- Research Projects: Heat Pump System, Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings
Guowen Li, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Architectural Engineering, Tongji University
- Research Projects: Modelica Modelling, Model Predictive Control, Cyber-physical Security, Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings
Mengyuan Chu, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Architectural Engineering, Chongqing University
- M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Syracuse University
- Research Projects: Heat Pump System, Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings
Wenqi Jia, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Architectural Engineering, Tongji University
- M.S., Energy and Power Engineering, Tongji University
- Research Projects: Optimization of Heat Pump – Energy Storage Systems for Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings
Mingjun Wei, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering and Aerospace Engineering, University of California, Davis
- Research Projects: Building Resilience
Youngsik Choi, Ph.D. Student
- B.S., Architectural Engineering, Seoul National University
- M.S., Architectural Engineering, Seoul National University
- Research Projects: Dedicated Outdoor Air Systems, Optimization-based HVAC Controls
Thomas Firsich, MS Student
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University
- Research Projects: Smart and Connected Homes, Grid-interactive Heat Pumps
Blake Smith-Cortez, MS Student
- B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Texas A&M University
- Research Projects: Heat Pump System, Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings, Testing of Occupancy Sensors
Undergraduate Student
- Undergraduate student in Architectural Engineering, Texas A&M University
- Research Projects: Heat Pump System, Grid-interactive Efficient Buildings
Alumni
Astrid Doennem (2021)
- Undergraduate student in Architectural Engineering, Texas A&M University
- Current position – Master student at Technical University of Denmark (DTU).
Ben Cottrell (2020)
- Master student in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama
- Thesis – Using Cooling Tower Data to Model the Best Approach Temperature
Aaron Henry (2020)
- Master student in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama
- Thesis – Development of A Hardware-in-the-loop Framework with Modelica for Energy Efficient Buildings
Zhengwen Hao (2018)
- Master student in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama
- Thesis – Model-based Estimation on Building Envelope Infiltration
Defeng Qian (2017)
- Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama
- Thesis – Solar Powered Ground Source Heat Pump Systems
Liu Liu (2016)
- Master student in Mechanical Engineering, University of Alabama
- Thesis – Energy Modeling and Calibration of a Mixed-use Building with Laboratories, Offices and Classrooms