About Me
Hi, my name is Samuel Letellier-Duchesne and I am currently a researcher looking for an opportunity to make my mark in the industry. During my PhD and later as a PostDoc at the MIT Sustainbale Design Lab, I worked on developing urban building energy modeling solutions. I gained experience making software applications for researchers and web apps that enable various data-driven workflows in the field of building science.
I am most skilled in: Python and C# and more recently I have been developing REST APIs and web micro servives for this internet age.
My topics of expertise are:
- District Energy Modeling
- Building Energy Modeling (EnergyPlus & TRNSYS have no secrets for me)
- Urban Building Energy Modeling
- Geographic information system through QGIS, PostGIS databases and python scripting GeoPandas
- Linear and Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (Optimization).
Projects & OpenSource Tools
Democratization of urban building energy modeling.
I started this project with Yu Qian Ang and Zach Berzolla to accelerate the creation of Urban Building Energy Models (UBEMs). This project tought me how to develop and maintain a microservice on AWS.
The backbone of UBEM.io consists of 3 projects that I developed independently: pyumi, archetypal and umitemplatedb.
With UBEM.io, municipalities, consultants and researchers can upload a GIS footprint file with a height attribute, and download an UMI project file which can be opened in UMI for Rhino. After an energy simulation is run, the file can be uploaded to the Urban Model Visualizer to display a rich energy performance summary.
python scripting language to create, open and edit UMI projects.
This project was an opportunity to learn about Rhino 3DM files and the structure of Rhino 3D models. Using the recently open-sourced rhino3dm library, I was able to create UMI projects from scratch in a python environment without the use of the proprietary RhinoCommon API.
The package enables scripted workflows to open UMI projects and process the various module results (energy, mobility, district energy, etc.). It also enables the creation of new UMI projects from GIS files: import footprints, extrude geometries in 3D sapce and assign building template names based on a combination of feature attributes.
pyumi enables the Urban Model Generator as well as the Urban Model Visualizer.
Retrieve, construct, simulate, convert and analyze building energy models.
I started this project around the begining of my PhD as a way of learning to code in Python, but also out of frustration with running Commercial Reference Building EnergyPlus models. Ep-Launch is clunky and it is a pain to upgrade old models to newer versions of EnergyPlus. Furthermore, I needed a way to efficiently read IDF models, run them and retreive their results all in a Jupyter Notebook, the crown jewel of reproducible data analysis workflows.
I leveraged the excellent eppy package to do the heavy lifting of parsing IDF models, but I rewrote the whole logic to handle file upgrades and simulation results. From this robust IDF model scripting language, I developed the model complexity reduction algorithms to create simplified 2-zone UMI models out of complexe multi-zone IDF models. This in turn enabled the creation of building templates for the umi template database.
The structure of the archetype template database.
The umitemplatedb project was created out of a necessity to store and retreive UMI Template Library Files online. The project defines the building template format, the backbone of UMI projects and handles the conversion of UMI Template Library Files to MongoDB documents and vice-versa.
Work Experience & Internships
Developing tools at the SDL Lab has definitely reinforced my passion for creating robust analysis solutions that others can use.
As a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Sustainable Design Lab, I undertake reaserch at the intersection of urban building energy modeling and district energy systems modeling to guide city planners, architects and engineers, in designing and planning efficient buildings and urban systems.
Winning project: Demain Montréal. An ambitious Carbon Positive objective based on both a reduction of the embodied carbon of the building and a strong strategy to capture carbon during the operational phase.
I delivered a feasibility study for the implementation of an urban energy sharing network for the site of the De la Commune Service Yard. The study used an advanced topology optimization algorithm I developed during my PhD to explore various connectivity scenarios with an adjacent district energy plant. Also in the report, I outlined economic, legal, and technical opportunites and barriers for the project.
This report in addition to my help writing the “Energy Efficiency & Green Energy Production” chapter of the project’s proposal document helped our team secure the bid for the competition.
This interneship was funded by the competitive Mitacs Acceleration scholarship.
At Pageau Model, an MEP firm based in Montréal, Québec, I evaluated the potential of incorporating within the company workstream the use of novel building energy modelling tools such as Sefaira. I delivered a final report offering recommendations at the end of the intership.
Received a 2000$ scholarship for the program.
First hand ecological knowledge and engineering expertise bundled in a three-week program in the capital of energy efficiency building: Vienna.
Internship at the office of the developers of TRNSYS
During the internship, I learned to use TRNSYS, the simulation tool that would become a central part of my master’s thesis. My main task was to write technical documentation for future releases of TRNSYS.
Education
Ph.D. @ Polymtl
PhD Mechanical Engineering
2016 - 2020
Polytechnique Montréal is Canada's largest french-speaking engineering school.
Pursuing a PhD in mechanical engineering derives from my interest in the built environement and how early design decisions can impact the sustainability of a project. For my thesis, I applied priciples of Integraded Design to the planning of heat-sharing networks.
««« Read my thesis »»»
B.Eng. @ Polymtl
Bachelor of Engineering | Civil Engineering
2010 - 2014
From structural systems to environmental science, my bachelor in civil engineering taught my a lot about the built environment.
A solid engineering foundation at Polytechnique Montreal has taught me how efficiently to solve complex problems.
Awards & Scholarships
I have had the greatest pleasure of receiving these awards and scholarships during my academic career:
| Name | Organization | Value | Year | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Postdoctoral Fellowship | Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada | $45,000/yr | 2020-2021 | accepted |
| Hydro-Québec scholarship for excellence | Hydro-Québec | $25,000 | 2018 | received |
| FRQNT 3rd cycle scholarship | Fonds de recherche du Québec – Nature et technologies (FRQNT) | $20,000 | 2017-2018 | received |
| J.A. DeSève Foundation Prestige Scholarship | J.A. DeSève Foundation | $10,000 | 2017 | received |