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Pennsylvania State University

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The Stuckeman School at Penn State is launching a new podcast series that celebrates diversity in the field of design computing on Jan. 26 with Felecia Davis, associate professor of architecture and director of the Computational Textiles Lab (SOFTLAB) in the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing (SCDC), as the first guest.

Titled “Voices in Design Computing,” the series has been organized by Heather Ligler, assistant teaching professor of architecture and a researcher in the SCDC, as part of her work as an inaugural Stuckeman Diversity and Inclusion Fellow. A total of six podcasts featuring design computing researchers from different disciplines, backgrounds and institutions will be released biweekly over the course of 12 weeks during the spring semester.

“The series emphasizes dialogue as a medium for unpacking interpretations of design computing, which is a fundamental research area within the Stuckeman School across disciplines, and aims to foreground an inclusive cross section of computational designers to represent and attract greater equity in the field,” said Ligler.

The target audience for the series, according to Ligler, is current and future students — especially underrepresented students — who may be interested in advanced research-based degrees or careers as computational designers but may not be sure what the field of computational thinking and design computing is all about.

“By talking about the various ways that computing can be interpreted, explored and applied in design, the ‘Voices’ series will help current and potential students imagine diverse futures in design and research,” she said. “By highlighting the people, disciplines and interpretations of design computing, I hope to generate more interest in computational design as an expansive field of study, with transformative social and cultural implications for a variety of creative disciplines.”

Following the Jan. 26 podcast featuring Davis, the remaining podcast release dates and guests are:

  • 9 – Karla Saldaña Ochoa, assistant professor of architecture and leading researcher at SHARE lab, University of Florida School of Architecture.
  • 23 – Huiwon Lim, assistant professor of graphic design, Stuckeman School.
  • March 9 – Shelby Doyle, associate professor of architecture, Stan G. Thurston Professor of Design Build, co-founder of the Computational and Construction Lab and director of the Architectural Robotics Lab, Iowa State University College of Design.
  • March 23 – Kyuha (Q) Shim, associate professor of design and director of the Computational Creativity Lab, The School of Design at Carnegie Mellon.
  • April 6 – Derek Ham, department head of art and design, associate professor of graphic design and affiliated assistant research professor of architecture, NC State University College of Design.

The podcast episodes will be available via sites.psu.edu/voicesindesigncomputing.

Pennsylvania State University

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A new book co-edited by Rahman Azari, associate professor of architecture at Penn State, offers a variety of perspectives and first-hand experiences from scholars and experts in building science and technology on using various research methods — from simulation-based to experimental methods — in answering the key research questions of the field.

Azari, who is also the director of the RE2 Lab in the Stuckeman School’s Hamer Center for Community Design, co-edited “Research Methods in Building Science and Technology” with Hazem Rashed-Ali, associate professor and associate dean of research and innovation at Texas Tech College of Architecture. It has been published by Springer Nature.

The book covers various methods of data collection and analysis, including measurement-based methods in which data is collected by measuring properties and their variations in ‘actual’ physical systems, simulation-based methods that work with ‘models’ of systems or processes, and data-driven methodologies in which data is collected via measurement or simulation to identify and examine the associations and patterns.

The application of these methods is explored within specific areas of building science and technology, including window systems, building enclosure, energy performance, lighting and daylighting, computational fluid dynamics, indoor and outdoor thermal comfort, and life cycle environmental impacts.

More information on “Research Methods in Building Science and Technology” can be found on the Springer website: link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-030-73692-7.

Stuckeman School professor receives research grant for biodegradable structures

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UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — A research team led by Benay Gürsoy, assistant professor of architecture and director of the Form and Matter (ForMat) Lab in the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing, was awarded the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Upjohn Research Initiative grant to advance the study of biodegradable building composites made from mycelium, which comes from the root of fungi.

Gürsoy and Ali Ghazvinian, an architecture doctoral candidate whom Gürsoy advises, earned the $25,000 award for their project proposal, “From Waste to Biodegradable Structures with Local Fungi Species.”

The funds from AIA will be matched by the Stuckeman School’s Department of Architecture, giving Gürsoy a total of $50,000 to further research on mycelium-based composites, a biodegradable material that can be used for architectural structures.

“We proposed to build two large-scale prototypes, one called ‘MycoCreateII’ and the other is ‘MycoPrint,’” Gürsoy explained. “We’re exploring how we can 3D print mycelium-based composites for structural use. We want to build a proof-of concept-structure by [3D] printing components of the structure.”

In addition to constructing the prototypes, the grant will go towards other expenses, such as lab tests, materials and supporting architecture students who are working on the project.

According to Gürsoy, the building industry largely contributes to global carbon emissions and landfill waste. Mycelium-based composites provide a solution because they require less energy to form and therefore lower the growing carbon footprint of the industry. 

“The energy required to make mycelium-based materials is less than conventional building materials,” said Gürsoy. “However, we cannot say that mycelium-based materials will replace existing building practices right away.”

Another environmental advantage of mycelium-based materials is that they can be cultivated on organic waste materials.

“The fungi need to feed on something to grow during the production process,” explained Gürsoy. “This can be agricultural waste. The composites can be manufactured using this waste and it doesn’t produce any non-compostable waste when it’s demolished or crushed and mixed with soil.”

This means, according to Gürsoy, that while using mycelium-based composites in architectural structures is still very experimental, it could decrease the amount of waste that ends up in landfills.

Ghazvinian is investigating the structural capabilities of mycelium-based materials. The project also involves participation from integrated undergraduate-graduate student Natalie Walter, who is growing mycelium-based composites on waste cardboard as acoustic panels, and Alale Mohseni, an architecture master’s student who is focusing on design computing and is assisting Gürsoy with 3D printing mycelium.

The project also has an interdisciplinary nature because of the team’s work with John Pecchia, associate research professor in the Department of Plant Pathology and Environmental Microbiology and director of the Mushroom Research Center Mushroom Spawn Lab at Penn State.

“He [Pecchia] gives us insights about how we can better cultivate mycelium such as what kinds of additives and supplements we can use,” Gürsoy said. “And, most importantly, we are using his center’s facilities for sterilization of the substrates and growing the material in controlled environmental conditions.”

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