Alya Al-Hashim is a Ph.D. candidate in the Building Technology and & Performance program. Her research interest is urban fabric and morphology and aims to quantify different performances urban spaces and translate these performance measure to comparative tool for designers and decision makers as basis for improving urban space livability. She has earned her Bachelor’s degree from Sultan Qaboos University in 2010 in Architectural Engineering and received her Master’s degree from University of Arizona, USA in the year 2013. Alya has worked in multiple research projects as a research assistant, such as “Documentation of the Traditional Omani Settlements’ Project” “, Research project funded by Ministry of Culture and Heritage, Oman (2014) , "Cultural DNA in Islamic geometric pattern design & its effect on the commonality in traditional architecture with particular focus on Oman" (2011), and "Investigating the daylight adequacy for functional needs in old Omani forts“ (2010), these research projects were fully funded by Sultan Qaboos University, Oman.
Mohanned Althobaiti is a Ph.D. candidate in the Building Technology & Performance program and a member of the High Performance Building Lab. His research interest is situated at the intersection of architecture, sustainability, and building efficiency. He is interested in energy studies, controls, modeling, and simulation for the design and operation of high-performing buildings in order to improve the way buildings use resources. The technical performance of buildings is the result of the complex interplay of highly variable boundary conditions with the physical behavior of many components operating in multiple domains. The capture of this relationship at appropriate resolution and aggregation with subsequent use in design and operational decisions is the major focus of Mohanned’s research.
Mohanned received an MArch degree from the University of Miami, where he conducted his thesis: “Intelligent and Adaptive Façade System: The Impact of Intelligent and Adaptive Façade on The Performance and Energy Efficiency of Buildings.”
Sevda is a Ph.D. student in Design Computation and a member of Digital Building Lab (DBL) at the Georgia Institute of Technology, also a member of Physical Internet Lab at the Department of Industrial and System Engineering (ISYE). As a member of DBL, she is working closely with PI lab on facility layout design development, optimization, and automation. Sevda's work explores new technologies using programming languages to interactively improve generative designs.
Sevda is graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in Master of Architecture and she is holding a Master of Science in Design Technology with Design Computing concentration at Georgia Tech.
Yousef Bushehri is a Ph.D. candidate in evidence-based design and universal design, investigating how the design of space affects human health. His research interest brings together spatial design, human aging, and designing for aging. In addition Yousef is interested in methods of analyzing and quantifying spatial experience so that designs can be compared to extract characteristics to inform future guidelines. His past works include practicing as an architect in Kuwait, participating as an artist in residence at Google's Paris office, and working as a research assistant at the Simtigrate Design Lab.
Yousef attended The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C. for his BSArch (2011) minoring in psychology and March (2013) focusing on digital media, and recently completed his MSArch (2016) at Georgia Tech with a concentration in healthcare design.
Hayri Dortdivanlioglu is a Fulbright Scholar and Ph.D. student in architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is currently researching the intertwined relationship between the six Vitruvian principles and his triadic structure of Firmitas, Utilitas, and Venustas through the concepts of new materialism. In a broader sense, his research interests include new materialism, design process, form generation, diagramming, formal analysis, shape grammar, and architectural representation. Besides his concentration in architecture, Hayri is pursuing the Science, Technology, and Society certificate program.
Besides his studies and research, Hayri is teaching architectural design studios at Georgia Tech. He is the co-founder and coordinator of the ConCave Ph.D. Student group in the College of Design at Georgia Tech, and also the coordinator of the International Ph.D. Symposium 2020. Before coming to Georgia Tech, Hayri received his B.Arch. with the excellence in graduation award, and M.Arch. from Middle East Technical University [METU] in Ankara, Turkey, where he taught various courses on architectural representation, and design studios.
Stadia as a building typology has been a central object of my career as an architect at academic and practical levels. Currently I´m focused on the research of design methodologies that can be applied to stadia in order to achieve beneficial legacies. I´m a member of the Stadia Lab where scientific design analysis is developed producing data that can improve the effects of stadia on its built environment. Professionally I´ve worked with stadia proposals for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, stadiums and arenas for private and public clients where I´ve been able to observe from a privileged point of view the distance of the design process from the advertised legacies as well as the significant impact of large scale stadia to the urban landscape of its host cities. Although the potential legacy related to stadia is very questionable, there´s is a clear necessity to review this building´s archetypal in order to take a broader consideration of social, historical, economic and urban realities, finally becoming a catalyst of urban development.
Yasser El Masri is a practicing architect, Fulbright Scholar, and Rhodes Scholar Finalist with an award-winning academic record. Currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Architecture with a focus on High-Performance Buildings at Georgia Tech and serving as a GRA on a US Department of Energy Funded Project. Holds an MS in ”Sustainable Design" and certification in "Energy Studies" from the University of Texas at Austin, and a BS in Architecture From Beirut Arab University (RIBA Accredited). Interests include Building Science and Architectural Engineering with a main focus on energy simulation and validation of various performative aspects of buildings. Held various positions through selection and election at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. An avid lover of history, politics, art, science, philosophy, theology and environmentalism.
Wenbo Guo is a Ph.D. candidate who is currently studying architectural history and theory in working with Professor George Johnston. Her current research interest is concerned with the development in the early 20th century of the scholarship focused specifying upon Chinese architectural history.
Prior to Georgia Tech, she received an MArch from the University of Pennsylvania. Before came to US, she studied architecture and practiced professionally in China. She received MArch from Southeast University and BArch from Nanjing University of Technology. She is currently working as a Teaching Assistant in History of Architecture.
Khatereh Hadi researches healthcare design at Georgia Tech where she is a Ph.D. candidate in Evidence-based design and a member of SimTigrate Design Lab. She is interested in creating better healthcare environments for patients, staff and families through design and research. She received a BArch and MArch from Art University of Isfahan, Iran. Her area of interest is computation, simulation and optimization for designing healthcare settings to improve patient’s safety and satisfaction, as well as staff’s performance by looking at different design parameters. Recently, she has been focused on studying intensive care units, trying to understand how spatial characteristic such as visibility and accessibility vary in different architectural layouts and how different design parameters change these spatial characteristics. She has also been involved in major research projects about impact of design in creating better lighting environments for patients and nurses.
Tzu-Chieh Kurt Hong is a Ph.D. candidate in the School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. The current research of Kurt is mainly focusing on implementation of shape computation system, including the development of geometry/graph kernel, novel data representations and shape recognition algorithms. Kurt is a research assistant at the Shape Computation Lab working with Dr. Thanos Economou and his works include the implementation of shape grammar interpreter, generative modeling system of US Courthouse design and generative modeling system of Froebel blocks. Before entering Shape Computation Lab, Kurt was a research assistant at the Digital Building Lab working with Dr. Dennis Shelden, and his main contribution to Digital Building Lab included the implementation of Automatic Routing System in architecture and an interactive web-based data visualization platform, Smart 3D Atlanta. Kurt holds BSEE, MSEE, MArch from the National Chiao Tung University (Taiwan), and MSArch from the University of Michigan.
Fatima Javeed is currently enrolled as a Ph.D. student in design computation at the Georgia Institute of Technology. She is interested in researching how computational design and generative algorithms shape the way architectural forms are conceived. Her interest also extends to digital fabrication, augmented reality and interactive environments. As a focus, she is interested in developing a data-driven computational framework for automating design based on patterns in the modeled world. She is an architect and did both her B.Arch and M.Arch from UET, Lahore-Pakistan; she was teaching at the same university before joining Georgia Tech for Ph.D.
Heather Ligler is an architect and design researcher interested in how generative and parametric design both provide a new computational basis for architecture. Currently a Ph.D. canddiate, her ongoing research investigates the evolution of John Portman’s architectural language from his 1964 Atlanta residence, Entelechy I, to his emblematic atrium hotels all over the world. Alongside her studies, Heather is a research assistant in the Shape Computation Lab, contributing to the SCL’s work on courthouse design by tracing the historical lineage of the building type. She is also teaching assistant to the Art and Architecture in Greece and Italy Study Abroad Program where she is developing a research program to engage students in digital heritage projects through photogrammetry and shape grammars. Before her graduate studies, Heather practiced from intern architect to Project Architect in the office of John Portman & Associates on multiple international projects. She holds a BArch and BInteriorArch from Auburn University and an MArch in Digital Design and Fabrication from Georgia Tech.
Marisabel Marratt is a Ph.D. candidate in the History and Theory concentration. Her research examines 20th century history and philosophies of technology, and their implications for contemporary architectural history and theory, aesthetics and the evolving experience and conception of Architecture in professional practice. As point-of departure, her focus is the work of French philosopher of technology Gilbert Simondon (1924-1989), his conception of techno-aesthetics and in-formation, and its potential implications for contemporary conceptions of Architecture.
Marisabel holds a BArch and MArch from Princeton University. In her extensive professional experience, Marisabel has since been involved in many award-winning projects, encompassing Architecture, Interior Architecture and Production Design. The desire to “push the envelope”, has led to inventive approaches to space/form-making, exploring and implementing virtual and material technologies, color, movement and light.
Zorana Matić is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Urban Design. Her research focuses on links between characteristics of built environment and public health and how designing urban places that promote physical activity affects behavioral choices and health outcomes. Her ongoing research is looking closely at retrofit opportunities for vacant healthcare facilities and sites and health districts planning. She gained extensive teaching experience, working on number of courses in urban design, planning and architecture. Currently works as GRA and GTA and has been part of Urban Design and Architecture studios, as well as Instructor for Core I Design studio.
Zorana holds a BArch and MArch in Urbanism from the University of Belgrade, Serbia. She received several awards in design competitions and was awarded several fellowships including 2013 SoA Ph.D. fellowship, 2008 Eurobank EFG Scholarship for the top 100 students in Serbia, Scholarship of the Republic Fund for Scientific and Artistic Youth of Serbia (2007-2012).
Eleanna Panagoulia is a Ph.D. candidate at the High-Performance Building Lab at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research focuses on the integration of building performance analytics in professional practice for building envelope retrofitting and the creation of frameworks for energy-oriented decision-making using BIM platforms. Prior to joining the Georgia Tech Ph.D. program, Eleanna received her Diploma of Architect Engineer from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece in 2013 and her Master of Architecture from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015. Between 2015 and 2019, she joined the professional practice as an Architect at the international firm Foster + Partners in California and London, specialized on computational and BIM methodologies for façade development and coordination during design and construction stages. Eleanna is a registered architect in the UK and Greece and a member of ARB.
James Park is a Ph.D. Student in the School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research investigates courthouses as a building type and focuses on designing and implementing a generative description of the building type in the form of a shape grammar. James is a research assistant at the Shape Computation Lab, an instructor for the series of courses on computational media and modeling at the School of Architecture and a teaching assistant for the Georgia Tech Architectonics in Greece and Italy Study Abroad Program. James holds a B.S. in Architecture and a Master of Architecture from the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Carrie Pavel is a Ph.D. candidate in History, Theory and Criticism. Her research focuses on the intersection of early 20th century avant-garde movements and modern architecture, with a particular interest in methodological translations between architecture and other forms of art-making, narratives of diaspora and resettlement, and geopolitical considerations in the production and interpretation of modern architecture. Bringing together these diverse interests, her dissertation project examines the architecture of Romanian-Israeli painter, architect, and Dadaist Marcel Janco.
Carrie holds a MArch from the University of Cincinnati, earning her graduating class’s Thesis Award for Distinguished Research. She has served as an appointed member on the College Art Association’s Students and Emerging Professionals Committee and is one of the founding members of the Romania working party of Docomomo International. Her research has been supported by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation and the US Department of State’s Title VIII program. As a President’s Fellow at Georgia Tech, she serves as a graduate teaching assistant for architectural history and theory courses. Prior to entering the doctoral program, she worked in architecture and in cultural heritage management in the US and abroad.
Tyler Pilet is currently pursing his Ph.D. in Architecture within the High Performance Building group. He studies building envelopes and sustainable policy implementation. He hopes to mix policy and building science to assist in reduction of carbon emissions by aiding decision makers on a sectorial level rather than focusing on one building at a time. Tyler collaborates with the Building Technologies Research and Integration Center (BTRIC) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) and has participated in production of Building America's Building Science Advisor and ORNL's Building Enclosure Performance Metric projects.
Prior to coming to Georgia Tech, Tyler completed his B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Florida State University where he specialized in fluid sciences and heat transfer. Within the last year of his bachelor's Tyler managed and resided within a off-grid living laboratory, which introduced him to the field of building science. He has also worked in the areas of data science, cryogenics, computational fluid dynamics, and energy assessments before finding his passion for the building industry.
Mayuri is a Ph.D. student at the High Performance Buildings Lab in the College of Design. She has completed a Bachelors in Electrical and Electronics engineering and Masters in Renewable Energy Engineering with a specialization on building energy efficiency from India.
She has been working on a project from NSF which quantifies the human health risk for the concurrent events of extreme heat wave with grid failure in three US cities of Phoenix, Atlanta and Detroit.
Her research is focused on risks of overheating in residential dwellings, resilience in built environment and role of weather in urban simulations. Her ongoing research is related to assessing uncertainties in predictive building performance induced by meso-scale weather variations and using data science with geographical information to create high fidelity spatially varying weather input for building simulation practice.
Raha M.Rastegar, M.Arch.is a research assistant at SimTigrate Design Lab pursuing her Ph.D. in the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech, with a major in healthcare design. Raha's interests include designing better healthcare environments by translating scientifically tested research into real-life practice with a focus on human-centered design. She is currently working on projects focusing on design for people with cognitive impairment to explore how built environment parameters such as light can be employed as a non-therapeutic treatment. In her research, she also seeks to understand how spatial analysis, research, process modeling and simulation can be used as tools to achieve a more effective design.
Nirvik Saha is a Ph.D. student in Design Computation with Dr. Dennis Shelden as advisor. His research investigates the formulation of a precise definition of topological and physical relations between spaces in an architectural and urban context to automate the search for an elegant solution. Nirvik is a research assistant at the Digital Building Lab (DBL) where his involvement is centered around computer graphics and web based applications to develop generative algorithms for building geometry and optimization of layouts based on performance criteria.
Shani Sharif is an architect and researcher, currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Computational Design. She hold a SMArchS in Design and Computation from MIT, a MArch from Shahid Beheshti University, and a BArch from the University of Tehran with a focus in digital fabrication and a minor in computer science and cognitive science, her research concerns human-robot collaboration in digital design and fabrication processes. Shani currently teaches Robotic Fabrication, and Materials and Fabrication courses at Digital Fabrication Laboratory, and is engaged in BIM focused research projects at Digital Building Lab at Georgia Tech. She was previously an adjunct professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology where she taught courses on complex geometries and fabrication, a researcher at MIT Media Lab and School of Architecture and Planning, and project architect at Design Core and ATEC Consultants.
Yifu Shi is a first-year Ph.D. student of high performance building group with Dr. Godfried Augenbroe as advisor. He focuses on how the building system and operation affects the building energy performance. His current research interest is the large scale building energy modeling, regional building energy estimations and net zero buildings.
Yifu received his Bachelor of Engineering in Building Science and Technology from Tsinghua University and his Master of Science in Architecture from University of Pennsylvania with Dr. Ali Malkawi as advisor. His master work includes energy audit and analysis for campus buildings, and provides optimal strategies. In the past five years, Yifu worked as an engineer for Energy System Lab of Texas A&M University in building systems and commissioning field. His professional experience includes the building energy modelling, HVAC diagnosis and building control optimization.
Mehmet Sinan was born In Istanbul, Turkey, After finishing the Italian Scientific High School of Istanbul, Mehmet moved to Rome to study Architecture and Structures at Sapienza University of Rome. His graduate thesis was on "Dynamic Analysis of Finite Element models of Base Isolated Healthcare structures" with Professor Fabrizio Mollaioli. Mehmet's industry work was initially in international engineering projects in healthcare and higher education followed by a research contract and teaching assistantship at Sapienza, where Mehmet covered the roles of Architect, Computational Design Consultant and Digital Fabrications Supervisor at NONE Collective in Rome.
Matthew Swarts is a member of the Research Faculty. His work focuses on the translation of human behavioral patterns and perceptions into computer models and simulations to better understand design decisions. Swarts works in the Interactive Media Architecture Group in Education in the Center for Geographic Information Systems developing collaborative virtual and augmented environments alongside models of landscape perception and predictive models of building performance. He works in the SimTigrate Design Lab and the Center for Assistive Technology and Environmental Access. He assists in running the Interactive Product Design Lab where Industrial Design and Human Computer Interaction students create functional interactive electronic prototypes. Swarts teaches courses on computer programming for designers and designing for interaction and interactive environments. Swarts is a co-founder of Paracision LLC, which develops workshops and custom software solutions for design firms around parametric modeling. He is also the co-founder of Mitto Design LLC, a design consultancy firm for all things interactive.
Nazanin is a designer and researcher, currently pursuing her doctoral studies in Computational Design with a minor in Computer Science and Human Computer Interaction. She holds a M.S Degree in Digital Design and Fabrication from Texas Tech University and a B.Arch Degree from the University of Tehran. Her research concerns Virtual and Augment Reality applications in development of smart architecture. Her interests also include sensor-based design, interactive environments, Genetic algorithms and Machine learning. She is currently a Teacher Assistant for core studios, helping students with digital media tools.
Shu Tang is a first-year Ph.D. student in Architecture Design Computation. She is conducting research in Digital Building Laboratory with Director Dr. Dennis R Shelden. Shu received her Bachelor and Master in Civil Engineering from University of Nottingham and Carnegie Mellon University. She previously worked for years in BIM consultancy companies as BIM Engineer. In the last two years, Shu has been conducting research and teaching at University of Nottingham Ningbo China. Shu's current research is a systematic investigation of defining data interoperability requirements between smart building systems for the Internet of Things (IoT) and the Building Information Modeling (BIM). Researchers working in the IoT field are trying to extend the digital systems (the Internet and the Web) into the physical realm (the built environment, the transportation system, etc.) to enable a whole new class of applications and services.
Anna Toth is a Ph.D. candidate in History and Theory. Her research focuses on the afterlife of Roman amphitheaters. In particular, she studies those cases where centuries of abandonment and reuse have apparently erased the monuments from the urban landscape. Her analysis places the arenas within the evolving cityscape and seeks to interpret their role in the dynamics of urban transformation. Anna received a bachelor's and a master's degree in Landscape Architecure from the University of Genova, Italy. At Georgia Tech she serves as a graduate teaching assistant for courses in History of Architecture and Theories of Urban Design.
Zhaoyun Zeng is a Ph.D. candidate in the High Performance Building group of the School of Architecture. He received a Bachelor of Engineering degree from Zhejiang University. He was awarded Chu Ko Chen Scholarship in 2015 and Xia Anshi-Heatcraft Award in 2016. He was a member of the team winning the 1st place of Small Multifamily Housing Contest of the 2017 U.S. Department of Energy Race to Zero Student Design Competition and IBPSA Student Modelling Competition 2017 Highly Commended Award (2nd Place). He is doing research on target-oriented conditioning (TOC). Target-oriented conditioning is a concept of applying conditioning effects directly to the targets or at least to the vicinity of the targets. His research includes novel TOC methods, human thermal comfort related to TOC, energy consumption of TOC, as well as behavior-guiding design of TOC systems.
Yilun Zha is a Ph.D. student in Architecture specializing urban design with Professor Ellen Dunham-Jones as advisor. His research interest lies at the intersection of urban design, public health and spatial analysis. Defining himself as both planner and designer, Yilun are exploring the interplay between built environment and public health, and how these knowledge can contribute to the paradigm of urban design towards a healthy city.
Prior to entering the doctoral program, Yilun received his Bachelor and Master of Urban Planning from Tongji University, China where he received several awards in design competitions and was awarded Tongji scholarship of Excellence. In 2017, he was enrolled in Tongji-Georgia Tech Dual Degree program and received a master of science in urban design from Georgia Tech. He also gains a lot of professional experiences from well-known urban planning and design institutes, such as Calthorpe Associates, TJAD and TJUPDI. He is currently working as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for Theories of Urban Design.
