Aug 10, 2021 – ATLANTA, GA

The School of Architecture is proud to announce the appointment of Vernelle A. A. Noel, Ph.D. as assistant professor. 

“We are thrilled to welcome Vernelle back to Georgia Tech,” said Scott Marble, William H. Harrison Chair for the School of Architecture. “Vernelle's work using computation to capture hand craft culture and utilize it as a foundation for innovative making techniques is unique among her peers."

Noel has practiced as an architect in the USA, India, and Trinidad & Tobago. She is the founder, creator, and editor of Architecture Caribbean, an online platform that showcased and promoted design by Caribbean nationals. While at the University of Florida, she became founding director of the Situated Computation + Design Lab.

Noel’s work largely focuses on craft and cultural design practices, computational making, and lightweight architecture. She builds new expressions, tools, and methodologies to explore social, cultural, and political aspects of making, computational design, and emerging technology.

"My approaches are very interdisciplinary," Noel said. "I look forward to continuing to contribute new perspectives and projects built on interdisciplinarity." 

Noel anticipates collaborations not only within the College of Design, but with the College of Computing, the College of Engineering, and the School of Literature, Media, and Communication, as well.

Julie Kim, Associate Chair for the School of Architecture, emphasized Noel's inquisitive spirit to her research, her commitment to her role as an educator, and her full engagement to the School of Architecture. 

"I can't wait to see the continued impact she will have," said Kim. 

While Noel's students can expect to benefit from her experience and interdisciplinary approach in the classroom, the entire Georgia Tech community can look forward to seeing her work on display.

"Exhibitions are an important part of my scholarship," Noel said. "Georgia Tech's connections to museums and other public creative spaces and communities can hopefully enable fruitful connections and conversations that tackle real-world problems."

Noel earned her professional degree in architecture from Howard University, her Master of Science in Architecture Studies from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and her Ph.D. in Design Computing from Penn State University.

Noel’s work in design and computation has been supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Mozilla Foundation, and ideas2innovation (i2i), among others. She delivered a TEDx Talk, titled “The Power of Making: Craft, Computation, and Carnival.” She is a recipient of the 2021 DigitalFUTURES Young Award for exceptional research and scholarship in the field of critical computational design, was a Keynote Speaker at ACADIA 2020, and has been featured on Madame Architect.

Before joining Georgia Tech in her current appointment, Noel served a two-year term as Ventulett NEXT Generational Visiting Fellow from the Fall 2018 to Spring 2020 semester. When asked what excited her most about returning to Georgia Tech, her answer was easy.

"The people," Noel said. "I missed them."