Written by BBE student ambassadors Matteo Bellazzini and Nick Ramberg
We talked with Sustainable Systems Management Student: Autumn Saign. Autumn was kind enough to take the time to talk with us about her experiences with the building science and technology specialization in SSM, Northstar Building Science Club (NoBS), her path to SSM, the progress of her club, and her adorable dog Rocket and kitten Mačka.
Autumn found her home in the SSM program through a different path than most of us. A chronic generalist, Autumn had a hard time pinpointing what she wanted to pursue as a career. After two years of technical college, she began searching online for a career. After days of surfing the web she stumbled upon the SSM/BBE department website. As Autumn read more into the SSM building science and technology emphasis, she fell in love with what it had to offer. Her love of STEM, sustainability, constantly changing work environments, and global/cultural importance of infrastructure fit perfectly into building science.
Autumn is excited to announce that she will be joining Wiss, Janney, Elstner Associates (WJE) after her graduation to work as a forensic building science consultant. Forensic building science is used to diagnose and fix building performance problems.
Due to low quality building materials, aging infrastructure, and increasing sustainability/safety standards, forensic building science is a rapidly growing field. These intricate challenges pulled Autumn into pursuing building science as a way to live a life of impact, challenge, and excitement.
Once Autumn settled at the UMN she was thrilled with her choice to join the SSM building science program. So much so she rebranded the Building Science and Technology Club and rebuilt it into The Northstar Building Science Club (NoBS for short). NoBS allows all building-related students passionate about sustainability to come together, network, build their skill sets, and have a sense of community. NoBS hosts fundraisers, networking events, weekly meetings and competitions.
This year, NoBS has taken their talents and skills to compete in the Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon Design Challenge. This challenge, hosted by the Department of Energy, gives students pursuing building science a chance to show off their creativity and knowledge by designing net zero energy buildings. For this competition, NoBS has broken into two groups to compete. Autumn’s group plans to redesign a 100 year old brownstone building in Minneapolis. Once an iconic home in Minneapolis, this brownstone is riddled with graffiti, broken windows, and structural problems. Autumn and her team are working hard to create a design which preserves the bones of the structure and its historic beauty, while creating a modern, sustainable, net zero building.
From engineers to architects, NoBS brings together all majors related to the built environment. This diversity gives NoBS an edge for students, allowing them to work with persons of different building backgrounds and get a feel for the real world. NoBS allows students to come together as a community geared towards learning and friendship.
Autumn plans to graduate in May 2023. As a transfer student her schedule is unique, which has landed her an extra busy senior year. In addition to leading the NoBS club and being a full-time student, Autumn is a server at The Sample Room. She greatly enjoys being with her coworkers, and interacting with customers. In her little free time Autumn got a new kitten, Mačka (Slovenian for cat), who's favorite hobbies include: destruction, menacing, clawing, and other kitten activities.
If you wanna learn more about NoBS, take a peek at their instagram! @nobs_umn