Myers-Lawson School of Construction
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- Cavity Tightness Preferences of Overwintering Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae)Chambers, Benjamin D.; Leskey, Tracy C.; Cullum, John P.; Pearce, Annie R.; Kuhar, Thomas P. (2020-06)Brown marmorated stink bug (Halyomorpha halys) (Stal) is a household nuisance pest that seeks shelter in buildings during the winter months. It has been found in a variety of cavities and spaces between building elements, as well as in the objects stored within buildings. This experiment examined the cavity tightness preferences for these insects as they settled in winter refugia. Adult overwintering H. halys were placed in two types of simulated refugia made from rigid material. Each type had a cavity of constant width, while one had a flat lid and constant tightness, and the other had a sloped lid that became tighter as insects moved inside. Adults were allowed to enter and settle, then their locations were recorded. In sloped lid cavities, H. halys tended to settle where the cavity tightness was between 4.5 and 5.5 mm. In the flat lid cavity boxes, H. halys tended to move all the way back. In both configurations, H. halys had a significant tendency to orient their heads towards the cavity entrance. A field comparison of cavity tightness in refugia with less rigid cardboard substrates was also performed, with spacers consisting of one or two layers of 3-mm cardboard. This comparison found differences in cavity selection by sex, with males more likely to pick single-spaced layers, and females more likely to select double-spaced layers. Understanding these preferences could be useful for collection, pest management, trap design, and study of impacts on structures.
- Disciplinary Influences on the Professional Identity of Civil Engineering Students: Starting the ConversationGroen, Cassandra J.; Simmons, Denise Rutledge; McNair, Elizabeth D. (2016-06)As the discipline of civil engineering has evolved from an apprentice-based trade to a socially-engaged profession, the role of the civil engineer has responded to shifts within the ever-changing culture of society. These shifts and historical events have directly influenced what is considered to be valued civil engineering knowledge, behaviors, and practices that we teach to students during their undergraduate careers. As part of a larger grounded theory study that is currently being conducted by the authors, the purpose of this paper is two-fold. First, we present the topic of professional identity formation as heavily influenced by unique historical events that shape the civil engineering discipline. . To establish the connection between identity formation and the history of civil engineering, we interpret historical events as constituents that create a disciplinary identity that is communicated to and subjectively applied by students during their undergraduate careers. Second, we hope to promote and invoke conversations surrounding the relevancy of civil engineering professional identity formation in engineering education among our colleagues within the technical disciplines. Through this paper, we add to ongoing research exploring the professional formation of engineering identities and promote discussions surround this topic at the disciplinary level. While most research conducted on identity formation has been generalized to include all or most engineering disciplines, we focus our discussion solely on professional identity formation within the civil engineering discipline. To reinforce the relationship between the history of the civil engineering profession and students’ professional identity formation, we review the literature on these two areas of inquiry. In particular, we will frame our paper using the following key discussion points: 1) providing a brief overview of key historical events of civil engineering in the United States; 2) discussing the influence of this history on instructor pedagogies and student learning within civil engineering education; and 3) conceptualizing this learning process as a means of professional identity formation. From this work, we will begin to understand how major historical shifts within our discipline maintain the potential to impact its future as we educate the next generation of civil engineering students. To conclude this paper, we will introduce current research that is being conducted by the authors to further understand the nuances of professional identity formation in undergraduate civil engineering students and how instructors may help or hinder that development.
- Exploring the Role of Cultural Boundary Spanners at Complex Boundaries in Global Virtual AEC NetworksZelkowicz, Andres; Iorio, Josh; Taylor, John E. (2015)As the architecture, engineering and construction industry continues to globalize, project work is more often executed by geographically distributed, technologically mediated teams of knowledge specialists organized into global virtual project networks. These networks are characterized by a number of boundaries that must be spanned in order to develop effective project outcomes. Prior research has examined the efficacy of cultural boundary spanners and technical boundary spanners in these types of networks, but we lack an understanding of how spanners perform in complex boundary environments where boundaries co-occur. Our research aims to explore the efficacy of cultural boundary spanners who are positioned at technical and knowledge domain boundaries. The results of our preliminary research suggest that cultural boundary spanners may only be effective at facilitating efficient information transfer when they are positioned at a knowledge domain boundary in which they have specialization. We found that the interactional norms that develop within the network based on the efficacy of boundary spanners can also position them at inappropriate knowledge domain boundaries, which can lead to decreased efficiency of information transfer. Our research provides an initial contribution to our understanding of boundary complexity in global virtual projects networks with implications for improving network performance.
- flEECe, an energy use and occupant behavior dataset for net-zero energy affordable senior residential buildingsPaige, Frederick; Agee, Philip; Jazizadeh, Farrokh (Nature, 2019-11-26)The behaviors of building occupants have continued to perplex scholars for years in our attempts to develop models for energy efficient housing. Building simulations, project delivery approaches, policies, and more have fell short of their optimistic goals due to the complexity of human behavior. As a part of a multiphase longitudinal affordable housing study, this dataset represents energy and occupant behavior attributes for 6 affordable housing units over nine months in Virginia, USA which are not performing to the net-zero energy standard they were designed for. This dataset provides researchers the ability to analyze the following variables: energy performance, occupant behaviors, energy literacy, and ecological perceptions. Energy data is provided at a 1 Hz sampling rate for four circuits: main, hot water heater, dryer, and HVAC. Building specifications, occupancy, weather data, and neighboring building energy use data are provided to add depth to the dataset. This dataset can be used to update building energy use models, predictive maintenance, policy frameworks, construction risk models, economic models, and more.
- The Myers-Lawson School of Construction Spring 2009 Report(The Myers-Lawson School of Construction, 2009-04)
- Responses of Overwintering Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) to Dead ConspecificsChambers, Benjamin D.; Leskey, Tracy C.; Pearce, Annie R.; Kuhar, Thomas P. (2019-02-13)Overwintering brown marmorated stink bugs (Halyomorpha halys) (Stal) are a notable domestic nuisance. In addition to disruptive activity, dead individuals remain in homes, sometimes in large numbers. To better understand the effects of these remains on overwintering behavior, adult H. halys were subjected to several experiments to test their responses to dead conspecifics. In non-tactile tests of individuals exposed to groups of dead conspecifics, H. halys did not respond to 1-yr-old desiccated dead conspecifics, but avoided corpses that were freshly killed. In tactile tests of individuals exposed to groups of dead conspecifics, H. halys joined those corpse aggregations significantly more often than not, and preferred corpses to cotton when given a choice. In tests of exposure of overwintering individuals to fresh dead conspecifics over the course of a winter, no necrophagy or evidence of survival advantage was observed, but overall females had higher survival rates than males.
- Size Restrictions on the Passage of Overwintering Halyomorpha halys (Hemiptera: Pentatomidae) Through OpeningsChambers, Benjamin D.; Kuhar, Thomas P.; Reichard, Georg; Leskey, Tracy C.; Pearce, Annie R. (2019-06)Intentional and unintentional openings in a building's envelope provide opportunities for unwanted pests to enter buildings. The brown marmorated stink bug, Halyomorpha halys (Stal), is one such pest, causing a significant domestic winter nuisance in many locations. One important means of pest control is exclusion, or blocking openings through which they can enter, although some openings are intentional and cannot be completely blocked without putting a building at risk. To help understand what size openings are relevant to entry, adult H. halys ready for overwintering were driven out of heated boxes through openings designed to limit passage by their lateral pronotal and dorsoventral dimensions. Pronotally limited holes of 8 mm wide were passed by only one female (3.3% of those tested), and no females and only one male (3.3%) passed through 7-mm-wide holes. For dorsoventrally limited slits, few (13%) of females passed through 4-mm-high slits, and no individuals passed through 3-mm- high slits. Dorsoventral heights and pronotal widths of 930 individuals collected in Virginia were measured. Females were consistently larger, with pronota averaging 8.33 mm wide to the males' 7.47 mm and heights at the point of leg movement restriction averaging 4.03 mm to the males' 3.50 mm. Based on experimental data and size data, we conclude that most H. halys individuals will be excluded by slits smaller than 3 mm and holes smaller than 7 mm.