Doctoral Student Wins Prestigious Fellowship for Low-Income Housing Research
An 杏吧原创 Institute of Technology School of Architecture doctoral student has been awarded the highly competitive from the American Association of University Women, the oldest non-institutional source of doctoral funding in the nation.
Aamena Mubarak Bakarmom (M.ARCH. 鈥21, Ph.D. ARCH Candidate) was awarded $25,000 for the 2026鈥27 academic year for anything related to her research.
Bakarmom is researching how to improve urban energy modeling for low-income communities. Specifically, she aims to update existing models so they more accurately reflect the characteristics and conditions of low-income housing, which often includes older construction materials, aging insulation, and less energy-efficient building systems.
鈥淗ow do we study anything about these communities if we don鈥檛 have the right model?鈥 Bakarmom asks.
鈥淚 believe my research will help a lot of people. The motivation comes from my background: We have communities, low income, that most people ignore,鈥 adds Bakarmom. 鈥淎ny energy policy that we have depends on modeling, so just changing how we measure the numbers will tell us what they need鈥攖his is a big thing.鈥
Bakarmom鈥檚 dissertation includes a case study of a small, low-income community in Arizona. Using urban energy modeling, she will first assess baseline energy performance and then evaluate the potential impacts of various retrofit strategies on reducing energy consumption, lowering energy burden, and improving resilience to extreme heat.
鈥淚 am truly proud of her achievement and deeply grateful to the AAUW for recognizing her academic excellence and the importance of her work,鈥 says Assistant Professor , who advises Bakarmom. 鈥淗er research on energy resilience and accessibility in underserved communities is crucial for our future, and I am confident she will become an exemplary leader for the next generation of women scholars.鈥
Born and raised in Saudi Arabia, Bakarmom received her bachelor鈥檚 degree in architecture from Hadhramout University in Al Mukalla, Yemen, and her Master of Architecture from Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University in Saudi Arabia, before attending the School of Architecture.
