Resume

• 2009

  Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

  Minor in Design

  Mechanical Engineering

  Outdoor Recreation at Georgia Tech (ORGT) - Whitewater kayaking instructor

  Mechanical Engineering Graduate Association (MEGA) - Secretary

  Woodruff School of Graduate Women (WSGW) - member

  Women in Engineering (WIE) - participant

  Georgia Institute of Technology

• 2005

  Wilderness Voyageurs

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  Carnegie Museum of Art

  Bayer MaterialScience

  Texas A&M University

  Ohiopyle

  PA

  Led student progression from class I-IV whitewater\n\nWide age-range of students\n\nEstablished procedures to ensure safety of students and instructors\n\nCertified in CPR

  First Aid

  and Wilderness First Aid

  Whitewater Kayaking Instructor

  Wilderness Voyageurs

  Atlanta

  GA

  Worked at the intersection of Mechanical Engineering and Biology in close collaboration\nwith ecologists and mechanical engineers. Focused on properties of biological ecosystems and how they can benefit the design of industrial networks in the forms of sustainability

  efficiency

  cost

  stability

  reduction of waste and raw materials

  and robustness\n\nFirst author on a journal article on the intersection between thermodynamic power cycles\nand ecological food webs published in the open access journal PLoS ONE.

  Graduate Research Assistant

  Georgia Institute of Technology

  Pittsburgh

  PA

  Optimized models for and simulated and analyzed stress and structural properties of\nplastic flow resulting in increased structural integrity and material use efficiency\n\nGenerated 3D models of numerous complex objects in SolidWorks\n\nIndependently designed a machine for a patented material manufacturing process which\nenabled small manufacturers to tap into previously unavailable markets\n\nCollaborated closely with mechanics and designers to ensure streamlined process\n\nMentored a new hire after first co-op rotation

  Mechanical Engineering CO-OP

  Bayer MaterialScience

  Pittsburgh

  PA

  Facilitated group discussions in galleries and provided exhibition information. \n\nDesigned and guided interactive activities and demonstrations relating to gallery exhibitions to promote interest and learning for children and young adults.

  Gallery Ambassador

  Carnegie Museum of Art

  Bryan/College Station

  Texas Area

  Assistant Professor in the J. Mike Walker '66 Department of Mechanical Engineering\nMember of the Texas A&M Energy Institute\nHead of the Bio-inspired Sustainable Systems Lab (BiSSL)\nFaculty advisor for MEENGirls (Texas A&M's Mechanical Engineering Undergraduate Female Student Group)

  Assistant Professor

  Texas A&M University

  Metz Area

  France

  Instructor of 2 Mechanical Engineering and 1 Civil Engineering undergraduate courses:\n\nME3340 - Fluid Dynamics\nCEE3040 - Fluid Dynamics\nME3345 - Heat Transfer

  University Lecturer

  Georgia Tech Lorraine

  French

  Spanish

  English

  Dutch

  Third Place for the Annual Cheoah River Boater-Cross Down River Race

  BoaterChick Festival

  Honorable Mention for the National Science Foundation's Graduate Research Fellowship Award

  National Science Foundation

  Magna Cum Laude

  University of Pittsburgh

  Second Place Metz International Freestyle Competition

• 2004

  Bachelor of Science (BS)

  Minor in Studio Arts

  Mechanical Engineering

  Pitt Outdoors Club (POC) - president and whitewater kayaking chair

  University of Pittsburgh

• 2

  Technological advances have created a world where humans are highly dependent on an uninterrupted electric power supply

  yet extreme weather events and deliberate attacks continue to disrupt power systems. Inherently robust ecological networks present a rich source of robust design guidelines for modern power grids. Analyses of ecosystem networks in literature suggest that this robustness is a consequence of a unique preference for redundant pathways over efficient ones. The structural similarity between these two system-types is exploited here through the application of ecological properties and analysis techniques to long-term power grid design. The level of biological similarity between these two system-types is quantitatively investigated and compared by computing ecological network metrics for a set of synthetic power systems and food webs. The comparison substantiates the use of the ecological robustness metric for optimizing the design of power grid networks. A bio-inspired optimization model is implemented

  which restructures the synthetic power systems to mimic ecosystem robustness. The bio-inspired optimal networks are evaluated using N-1

  N-2

  and N-3 contingency analyses to assess system performance under the loss of 1

  and 3 components respectively. The bio-inspired grids all experienced significantly fewer violations in each loss scenario compared to traditional configurations

  further supporting the application of the ecological robustness metric for power system robustness. The results provide insights into how ecological robustness can guide the design of power systems for improved infrastructural resilience to better survive disturbances.

  Bio-inspired design for robust power grid networks

  Bert Bras

  A key element for achieving sustainable manufacturing systems is efficient and effective resource use. This potentially can be achieved by encouraging symbiotic thinking among multiple manufacturers and industrial actors and establish resource flow structures that are analogous to material flows in natural ecosystems. In this paper

  ecological principles used by ecologists for understanding food web (FW) structures are discussed which can provide new insight for improving closed-loop manufacturing networks. Quantitative ecological metrics for measuring the performance of natural ecosystems are employed. Specifically

  cyclicity

  which is used by ecologists to measure the presence and strength of the internal cycling of materials and energy in a system

  is discussed. To test applicability

  groupings of symbiotic eco-industrial parks (EIP) were made in terms of the level of internal cycling in the network structure (high

  medium

  basic

  and none) based on the metric cyclicity. None of the industrial systems analyzed matched the average values and amounts of cycling seen in biological ecosystems. Having detritus actors

  i.e.

  active recyclers

  is a key element for achieving more complex cycling behavior. Higher cyclicity values also correspond to higher amounts of indirect cycling and pathway proliferation rate

  i.e.

  the rate that the number of paths increases as path length increases. In FWs

  when significant cycling is present

  indirect flows dominate direct flows. The application of these principles has the potential for novel insights in the context of closed-loop manufacturing systems and sustainable manufacturing.

  Ecological Principles and Metrics for Improving Material Cycling Structures in Manufacturing Networks

  From de Mestral’s hook-and-loop fasteners to the industrial symbiosis in Kalundborg

  Denmark

  organisms and ecosystems have provided inspiration for multiple novel inventions. Bio-inspiration at the industrial system scale can reduce energetic and material environmental burdens as documented in the case of Kalundborg’s symbiosis. Practical successes with symbioses suggest the value of ecological guidance

  but a systematic means of designing ecological inspiration into an industrial resource network requires further development. Additionally

  a theoretical basis for the observed environmental efficiencies needs additional elucidation. This work further develops a systematic means of using bio-inspiration in resource network design

  and it explores a potential thermodynamic foundation for energetic and material efficiencies noted in industrial resource networks.\nUsing an established correlation between a measure of ecological structure and 1st Law Efficiency

  this work explores a theoretical basis in classical thermodynamics for observed environmental efficiencies in symbioses. Increasingly complex variations of Rankine and Brayton power cycles are analyzed in the traditional sense to determine theoretical 1st Law efficiencies. Then

  they are analyzed as ecosystems using ecosystem metrics. Power cycles with increasingly ecological values for linkage density (Ld)

  an ecosystem network metric

  are seen to possess generally higher thermodynamic efficiencies.

  Lessons from Living Systems for the Development of Sustainable Industrial Resource Networks

  Bert Bras

  Biologically Inspired Design (biomimicry) and Industrial Ecology both look to natural systems to enhance the sustainability and performance of engineered products

  systems and industries. Bioinspired design (BID) traditionally has focused on a unit operation and single product level. In contrast

  this paper describes how principles of network organization derived from analysis of ecosystem properties can be applied to industrial system networks. Specifically

  this paper examines the applicability of particular food web matrix properties as design rules for economically and biologically sustainable industrial networks

  using an optimization model developed for a carpet recycling network. Carpet recycling network designs based on traditional cost and emissions based optimization are compared to designs obtained using optimizations based solely on ecological food web metrics. The analysis suggests that networks optimized using food web metrics also were superior from a traditional cost and emissions perspective; correlations between optimization using ecological metrics and traditional optimization ranged generally from 0.70 to 0.96

  with flow-based metrics being superior to structural parameters. Four structural food parameters provided correlations nearly the same as that obtained using all structural parameters

  but individual structural parameters provided much less satisfactory correlations. The analysis indicates that bioinspired design principles from ecosystems can lead to both environmentally and economically sustainable industrial resource networks

  and represent guidelines for designing sustainable industry networks.

  Designing Industrial Networks Using Ecological Food Web Metrics

  Bert Bras

  Industrial Ecology hypothesises that networks of industries designed to be analogous to the structure and properties of food webs may approach a similarly sustainable and efficient state. Although ecology is the metaphor for designing Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs)

  prior research has shown that EIPs are inferior in performance compared to natural ecosystems. One EIP design approach is to enlarge EIPs by combining two or more synergistic networks to create a larger

  and hopefully more successful

  synergistic mega-network. A quantitative analysis using structural ecosystem metrics is presented in this paper in order to test the potential of this approach. The findings indicate that merely enlarging EIPs by significant amounts may not be the best strategy for improving performance

  but that special attention should be placed on the inclusion of key actors like agriculture that act like detritivores and promote more intense internal cycling.

  Improving performance of eco-industrial parks

  Circular economy aims to address limited resources through\nthe continuous circulation of materials and energy. Recirculating low-quality materials for reuse is a sustainability goal that is analogous to the primary function of Nature’s detritus species

  a keystone for the proper functioning of ecosystems. Prior applications of ecosystem structure to human network design uncovered that even the most economically successful networks of industries demonstrate a lack of analogous detritus actors in the form of reuse and recycling. The recycling industry’s volatile nature

  dependency on international factors

  and financial difficulties prevent this strategy from becoming an efficient alternative. Creativity in design

  inspired by ecosystems

  is proposed here as a method to repurpose manufacturing byproducts that are otherwise seen as low quality waste materials. Realizing the reuse potential of these materials can create detrital-type feedback loops

  an attribute that supports the characteristic resilience and efficiency of ecosystems. The work here analyzes existing methods of pursuing circular economy and investigates the potential benefits generated by purposefully adding connects that create detrital-feedback-loops at the consumer and producer levels.

  Waste Reduction: A review of common options and alternatives

  Industrial Ecology uses ecological systems as a guide for improving the sustainability of complex industrial systems. Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) have gained support as a solution that seeks to simultaneously reduce environmental burdens and promote economic interests by exchanging materials and energy between industries to their mutual benefit. Recent studies have focused on drawing relations between food webs (FWs) and EIPs to improve the sustainability of the latter using ecological metrics

  such as the level of cycling or average connections between actors. This study incorporates a new ecological metric

  nestedness

  into the discussion of sustainable design for EIPs. The association of nestedness with mutualistic ecological networks supports its application to EIP design. The work here improves the understanding of holistic network structure with the goal of improving future design decisions for EIPs with purposeful placement of material and energy flows.

  Designing eco-industrial parks in a nested structure to mimic mutualistic ecological networks

  The evolution of power systems has recently seen a strong increase in renewable energy integration. This evolution has resulted in bidirectional pathways with two-way exchanges between the grid and consumers that is beginning to resemble the cyclic organization of food webs. Ecologically-similar cycling of materials and energy in industrial networks has previously been shown to improve network efficiency and reduce costs. The cyclic organization of food webs is proposed here as a design principle to quantify the effectiveness of two-way connections between the grid and consumers. The presence of ecosystem-like cycling in traditional power grid networks is investigated using the ecological metrics cyclicity and cycling index. Two hypothetical 5-bus grids are modified to replicate the two-way exchanges of real power systems with consumer renewable energy generation. The results show a positive correlation between increased structural cycling in grids and reliability improvements measured by the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) standard N-1 contingency analysis. These results suggest that the metrics cyclicity and cycling index can play a role in quantifying and improving the sustainability of power grids.

  An ecosystem perspective for the design of sustainable power systems

  Bogdan Pinte

  Extreme events continue to show that existing power grid configurations can be vulnerable to disturbances. Drawing inspiration from naturally robust biological ecosystems presents a potential source of robust design guidelines for modern power grids. The robust network structure of ecosystems is partially derived from a unique balance between pathway efficiency and redundancy. Structural and basic-functional similarities support the application of ecological properties and analysis techniques to power grid design. The work presented here quantitatively investigates the level of similarity between ecosystems and power grids by applying ecological network metrics to a basic

  realistic hypothetical 5-bus power system. A comparison between the power grid’s performance and average ecosystem performance substantiates the use of the ecological robustness metric for the development of a bio-inspired power grid optimization model. The bio-inspired optimization model re-configures the five bus grid to mimic ecosystem robustness. The results demonstrate the potential of ecosystems to provide new robust design principles for power grids.

  Bio-inspired design for robust power networks

  Bert Bras

  Ecology has acted as a source for sound design principles and studies have examined how ecological principles can enhance sustainability in human industrial networks. Engineered systems are often designed for maximum performance

  but in many cases robustness is sought with respect to unwanted variations in input or other parameters. Taguchi’s signal to noise ratio and other quality engineering principles are well known fundamentals in the field of robust design. In this paper

  we will introduce flow-based equations from ecological network analysis (ENA) to determine how to modify the flows and connections in industrial systems to balance efficiency and robustness against disturbances. In ENA

  the robustness of a system is given by the relationship of flow path diversity to system efficiency. Systems with diverse flows are more resilient to a disturbance since there are redundant pathways

  but are inefficient precisely because they contain many flow paths with the same endpoints. Efficient systems have increased capacity to transfer material and energy

  but this is at the cost of fewer pathways so the system is brittle. Thus

  given a disturbance

  a robust system balances redundancy with efficiency/capacity. Ecological systems seem to occupy a narrow range of states that balance efficiency and resilience to confer robustness. Human networks

  like trade networks

  water reclamation facilities

  etc. have been analyzed using these robustness principles and methods for flow based ecological network analysis. These analyses show that human networks may be more brittle than their ecological counterparts because of insufficient flow path diversity.

  Ecological Robustness as a Design Principle for Sustainable Industrial Systems

  Bert Bras

  DOI:10.1111/jiec.12283\n\nCyclical industrial networks are becoming highly desirable for their efficient use of resources and capital. Progress toward this ideal can be enhanced by mimicking the structure of naturally sustainable ecological food webs (FWs). The structures of cyclic industrial networks

  sometimes known as eco-industrial parks (EIPs)

  are compared to FWs using a variety of important structural ecological parameters. This comparison uses a comprehensive data set of 144 FWs that provides a more ecologically correct understanding of how FWs are organized than previous efforts. In conjunction

  an expanded data set of 48 EIPs gives new insights into similarities and differences between the two network types. The new information shows that

  at best

  current EIPs are most similar to those FWs that lack the components that create a biologically desirable cyclical structure. We propose that FWs collected from 1993 onward should be used in comparisons with EIPs

  given that these networks are much more likely to include important network functions that directly affect the structure. We also propose that the metrics used in an ecological analysis of EIPs be calculated from an FW matrix

  as opposed to a community matrix

  which

  to this point

  has been widely used. These new insights into the design of ecologically inspired industrial networks clarify the path toward superior material and energy cycling for environmental and financial success.

  Industrial Ecosystems and Food Webs: An expansion and update of existing data for eco-industrial parks and understanding the ecological food webs they wish to mimic

  Marc Weissburg

  Bert Bras

  A sustainable global community requires the successful integration of environment and engineering. In the public and private sectors

  designing cyclical (‘‘closed loop’’) resource networks increasingly appears as a strategy employed to improve resource efficiency and reduce environmental impacts. Patterning industrial networks on ecological ones has been shown to provide significant improvements at multiple levels. Here

  we apply the biological metric cyclicity to 28 familiar thermodynamic power cycles of increasing complexity. These cycles

  composed of turbines and the like

  are scientifically very different from natural ecosystems. Despite this difference

  the application results in a positive correlation between the maximum thermal efficiency and the cyclic structure of the cycles. The immediate impact of these findings results in a simple method for comparing cycles to one another

  higher cyclicity values pointing to those cycles which have the potential for a higher maximum thermal efficiency. Such a strong correlation has the promise of impacting both natural ecology and engineering thermodynamics and provides a clear motivation to look for more fundamental scientific connections between natural and engineered systems.

  Correlation between Thermodynamic Efficiency and Ecological Cyclicity for Thermodynamic Power Cycles

  Economic

  environmental

  and social advantages have been achieved over the years through byproducts and waste exchanges between industries. These Eco-Industrial Parks (EIPs) are touted to be ecologically similar

  however when they are analyzed using Ecological Network Analysis (ENA) techniques it has been found that they do not successfully mimic analogous ecosystems. ENA coupled with average food webs characteristics are used here to create a bio-inspired design optimization for the water distribution network of the Kalundborg EIP in Denmark. The bio-inspired solution is compared to a cost-based solution to illustrate what the former can offer beyond a conventional approach. Both solutions similarly minimize freshwater consumption

  however the bio-inspired solution has additional benefits that suggest a more sustainable and robust design

  such as the ability to maintain network function in the event of a connection losses. The results suggest that consumption and cost reductions alone may not be the best optimization route.

  Bio-inspired design for resilient water distribution networks

  Astrid

  Layton Ph.D.

  Georgia Tech Lorraine

• The Children's Institute of Pittsburgh

  Volunteer

  Solidworks

  Matlab

  Engineering Equation Solver (EES)

  Microsoft Word

  Labview

  PowerPoint

  Mechanical Engineering

  Finite Element Analysis

  LabVIEW

  AutoCAD

  Studio Art

  Cpr Certified

  Statistics

  Microsoft Excel

  Data Analysis

  SolidWorks

  Sustainable Design

  Research

  Biologically Inspired Design

  Industrial Design

  Bio-inspired design for robust power grid networks