Papers by Jennifer Benning
ion is the process of incorporating new observations into the learner’s existing world view, and ... more ion is the process of incorporating new observations into the learner’s existing world view, and the result of shared experiential learning among a related group of learners is cultural evolution. Experiential learning is central to all of the four Pre-Engineering Educational Collaboratives. However, since each of the collaboratives is located in diverse cultural and geographic settings, the application of experiential learning differs. For example, given the island nature and high population density of Hawai‘i, experiential learning through the summer program is shaped around shared experiences including underwater robotics for coral reef restoration and “re-engineering” islands in the context of climate change and sea-level rise. The Wisconsin PEEC emphasizes that cohorts maintain strong cultural and community connections and reflection activities through shared meals and cultural activities. The South Dakota PEEC emphasizes working to identify and apply solutions to increase comm...
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Indoor air, Jan 17, 2014
A mechanistic model was developed to examine how natural ventilation influences residential indoo... more A mechanistic model was developed to examine how natural ventilation influences residential indoor exposure to semivolatile organic compounds (SVOCs) via inhalation, dermal sorption, and dust ingestion. The effect of ventilation on indoor particle mass concentration and mass transfer at source/sink surfaces, and the enhancing effect of particles on mass transfer at source/sink surfaces are included. When air exchange rate increases from 0.6/h to 1.8/h, the steady-state SVOC (gas-phase plus particle phase with log KOA varying from 9 to 13) concentration in the idealized model decreases by about 60%. In contrast, for the same change in ventilation, the simulated indoor formaldehyde (representing volatile organic compounds) gas-phase concentration decreases by about 70%. The effect of ventilation on exposure via each pathway has a relatively insignificant association with the KOA of the SVOCs: a change of KOA from 10(9) to 10(13) results in a change of only 2-30%. Sensitivity analysis ...
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Journal of Cleaner Production, 2015
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Environmental Science & Technology, 2013
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Environmental Science & Technology, 2012
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Agricultural Systems, 2012
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2014 IEEE Frontiers in Education Conference (FIE) Proceedings, 2014
In the process of designing engineered systems, it is not uncommon for engineers to underestimate... more In the process of designing engineered systems, it is not uncommon for engineers to underestimate or altogether ignore the societal and cultural context of the problem. This is particularly true when designs are developed to solve world problems; a lack of societal consideration leads to implementation failures when engineers from developed countries attempt to design solutions "for" people in developing countries rather than working with them. It has been increasingly recognized in literature that stakeholder participation is critical for designing sustainable solutions. However, translating social and cultural values and stakeholder participation into engineering education remains an elusive challenge for educators. A similar challenge exists with engineering design for American Indian Reservations; however, this challenge is amplified due to a long history of racial tensions, biases, and political oppression that leads to American Indian distrust of mainstream engineers. This work in progress describes an ongoing engineering design project that is designed to meet the needs of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (PRIR) while: (a) challenging students at a mainstream university to design within an appropriate cultural context, (b) incorporating stakeholder participation and (3) increasing opportunities and interest in Native American participation in engineering. Dialogue between community members of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation (PRIR, where OLC is located), faculty and students of the Oglala Lakota College (OLC) Tribal College, and faculty and students at the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT) have identified that the PRIR community is interested in collaborating on the design, research, and testing of a sustainable, renewable-energy based food production system. The system should not only to meet the community needs for safe and healthy foods, but also serve as a potential source of economic development for the community. This project includes an extensive partnership and has a strong focus on achieving sustainable design and business development through a multi-disciplinary advisory team. Students from South Dakota School of Mines and Technology (SDSMT) have partnered with faculty and students from the Oglala Lakota College (OLC) on the functional design of a renewable-energy based structure for economic development. The design team is advised by faculty at both institutions, as well faculty and experts representing other synergistic projects on PRIR, including an on-going NSF engineering educational effort, the Native American Sustainable Housing Initiative (NASHI), based at University of Colorado Boulder (CU Boulder), to share climate station data and energy monitoring expertise, and Thunder Valley Community Development Corporation, a sustainable community grant holder located at Sharp's Corner, South Dakota, just 8 miles from the OLC campus, to share cultural knowledge and values and business development strategies. The paper describes the lessons learned by students and educators when consideration of culture and stakeholder investment become significant components in an engineering design.
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Building and Environment, 2011
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2018 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition Proceedings
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2020 ASEE Virtual Annual Conference Content Access Proceedings
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Proceedings of the 15th LACCEI International Multi-Conference for Engineering, Education, and Technology: “Global Partnership for Development and Engineering Education”, 2017
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Environmental science & technology, Jan 15, 2018
The particle/gas partition coefficient Kp is an important parameter affecting the fate and transp... more The particle/gas partition coefficient Kp is an important parameter affecting the fate and transport of indoor semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) and resulting human exposure. Unfortunately, experimental measurements of Kp exist almost exclusively for atmospheric polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), with very few studies focusing on SVOCs that occur in indoor environments. A specially-designed tube chamber operating in the laminar flow regime was developed to measure Kp of the plasticizer di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP) for one inorganic (ammonium sulfate) and two organic (oleic acid and squalane) particles. The values of Kp for the organic particles (0.23 ± 0.13 m3/µg for oleic acid and 0.11 ± 0.10 m3/µg for squalane) are an order of magnitude higher than those for the inorganic particles (0.011 ± 0.004 m3/µg), suggesting that the process by which the particles accumulate SVOCs is different. A mechanistic model based on the experimental design reveals that the presence of...
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Journal of Professional Issues in Engineering Education and Practice, 2016
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Page 1. DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE CRAB CLAW PROCESSING SYSTEMS TO MINIMIZE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ... more Page 1. DEVELOPMENT OF ALTERNATIVE CRAB CLAW PROCESSING SYSTEMS TO MINIMIZE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT by Jennifer Lyn Benning Thesis submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute ...
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Building and Environment, 2016
Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are indoor air pollutants that may have significant adver... more Semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs) are indoor air pollutants that may have significant adverse effects on human health. Although emissions of volatile chemicals from building materials and consumer products are usually characterized in small chambers, few chamber studies have been conducted for SVOCs due to the challenges associated with analysis and the lack of validation procedures. There is an urgent need for a reliable and accurate chamber test method to verify these measurements. A reference method employing a specially-designed chamber has been developed and is undergoing extensive evaluation. A pilot inter-laboratory study (ILS) has been conducted with six laboratories performing chamber tests under identical conditions for di-2-ethylhexyl phthalate (DEHP). Results from this study showed inter-laboratory variations of 24% for DEHP emission rates, with closer agreement observed among intra-laboratory measurements for most of the participating laboratories. A mechanistic emission model fits well to the measured concentration profiles, demonstrating the feasibility of the proposed reference method to independently assess laboratory performance and validate SVOC emission tests.
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Structures Congress 2015, 2015
While creativity has been specifically identified as a desired quality in the Engineer of 2020, c... more While creativity has been specifically identified as a desired quality in the Engineer of 2020, creativity in and of itself is often “factored out” of most course activities since it is often perceived to run counter to traditional engineering pedagogy. Step-by-step methods that converge on a “right answer”, highly constrained class problems, and a rational aversion to risk not only limit opportunities for creative development, but also train students to eschew creative solutions or methods all together. This paper discusses where creativity – and specifically divergent thinking – is appropriate in design problems and describes design projects at various levels of the curriculum specifically developed to guide students from divergent idea generation to convergent final designs. These projects include a steel sculpture assignment from an Advanced Steel Design course used to review basic member design in an open-ended, creatively driven project.
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2014 ASEE North Midwest Section Conference: Engineering Something More, Oct 13, 2014
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Center for Sustainable Engineering, 2012
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Environmental Science and Technology, 2012
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Papers by Jennifer Benning