David Blum
David Blum
Computational Research Scientist/Engineer
510-486-4741
Bio
David Blum is a Computational Research Scientist/Engineer in the Building Technology and Urban Systems Division. His research focuses on the development and implementation of next-generation computational tools and workflows for buildings operating in isolation or within broader energy networks. In particular, his interests are in the development, evaluation, and implementation of new control strategies that reduce energy use and cost as well as enable flexible load management important for coordination with electric grids with renewable generation, integration of on-site distributed energy resources, and improving resilience to emergency situations. Much of this work recently has been applied to model predictive control (MPC), where a model of building performance can be used to optimize its energy use, occupant service, and energy network interactions.
David received his B.A.E. degree from the Department of Architectural Engineering at The Pennsylvania State University in 2011 and his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Building Technology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2013 and 2016 respectively. At MIT, his research focused on improving the use of commercial building HVAC systems to provide ancillary services to electric grids through dynamic modeling and MPC. He is a member of the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating, and Air-conditioning Engineers (ASHRAE), the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the International Building Performance Simulation Association (IBPSA).
Awards
2025 Director’s Awards for Exceptional Achievement: Tech Transfer - November 12th 2025
To the Modelica Team, for advancing equation-based modeling, forming a community of developers and users, and creating a library with 3000 validated models that is used world-wide to design and operate HVAC equipment and energy and control systems for data centers, buildings, and districts.
Spot: David Blum, Michael Wetter - November 1st 2023
Publication of three highly impactful journal articles on BOPTEST, the Modelica Buildings Library and the Building Controls Virtual Test Bed.