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The MDes Virtual Welcome Day introduces you to the people, spaces, and perspectives that will inform your experience in the MDes program. We hope these resources are exciting and inspire you to imagine the MDes program and its experience as you start the MDes program in the Fall of 2020.
Use this page as your virtual guide to the agenda for the MDes Admitted Student Virtual Visit Welcome sessions on Friday, April 3, 2020. Prepare for your time with us by downloading Zoom prior to joining the sessions.
AGENDA
Session 1: MDes Virtual Admitted Student Day
9 AM – 12 PM PDT. Watch the video from Session 1 here.
9 AM PDT: Introduction by Program Leadership
Our day will begin with an introduction from our program leadership, Eric Paulos, Kyle Steinfeld, and Gwynne Keathley. We’ll also hear from a select teaching faculty, and give you all the opportunity to introduce yourselves.
MDes Faculty participants (more detailed bios at bottom of the page):
Eric Paulos
Kyle Steinfeld
Paz Gutierrez
Bjoern Hartmann
Grace O’Connell
Vivek Rao
Kosa Goucher-Lambert
10 AM PDT: Admitted Students FAQ + Design Specialist Introduction
Join Eric, Kyle, Gwynne, and Bjoern for a round-table discussion of frequently asked questions. We will be taking questions live.
You will also have the opportunity to connect with Joey Gottbrath, the Jacob Institute’s Technical Lab Director, and Cody Glen, a Jacobs Design Specialist. Together they will tell you more about the Jacobs Institute’s resources and how you can make the most of your time at Jacobs Hall, one of our MDes homes.
Please use this link to find the full Admitted Students FAQ page
11 AM – 12 PM PDT: Connect with Current Berkeley Graduate Students
As a Berkeley MDes student, you will be connected with a diverse group of graduate students part of our broader design community. We would like to introduce you to 5 students who have generously agreed to share their research and experience so far as a UC Berkeley grad student.
Graduate student participants (more detailed bios at bottom of the page):
Emiel Cockx
Stephanie Claudino Daffara
Christine Dierk
Jenna Frowein
Molly Jane Nicholas
Eldon Schoop
Session 2: MDes Leadership Forum
5 – 6 PM PDT.
5 PM PDT: Introduction by Program Leadership
Session 2 will be a condensed recap of session 1, which will be video archived should you not be able to join us.
We will begin session 2 with a brief introduction from the MDes program leadership, Eric Paulos, Kyle Steinfeld, and Gwynne Keathley.
5:30 PM PDT: Admitted Students FAQ
We will end the second session by highlighting some of the most frequently asked questions.
Take a video tour of UC Berkeley’s campus, including the main spaces for the MDes program, Jacobs Hall and Wurster Hall.
Program Leadership Profiles
Eric Paulos, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering Computer Science
Eric Paulos is the Academic Director of the MDes and Chief Learning Officer for the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. He is also the founder and director of the Hybrid Ecologies Lab, Director of the CITRIS Invention Lab, and faculty within the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM). His areas of expertise span a deep body of research territory in critical making, design research, urban computing, sustainability, social telepresence, robotics, physical computing, interaction design, persuasive technologies, and intimate media. Eric is teaching Designing Emerging Technologies, core courses in the MDes curriculum.
Kyle Steinfeld, Associate Professor, Architecture
Kyle Steinfeld is the Associate Director of the MDes. Through his unique hybrid practice of creative work, scholarly research, and software development, Kyle’s research seeks to reveal certain overlooked capacities of computational design; he finds no disharmony between the rational and whimsical, the analytical and uncanny, the lucid and bizarre. Kyle is co-teaching Debates in Design, core courses in the MDes curriculum.
Björn Hartman, Associate Professor, Electrical Engineering and Computer Science
Björn Hartmann is the Faculty Director of the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation. His research in Human-Computer Interaction focuses on novel design, prototyping, and implementation tools for the era of post-personal computing. His group investigates how better software and hardware can facilitate the exploration of interactive devices that leverage novel form factors and technologies (e.g., sensors and actuators). Bjoern is co-teaching Debates in Design, core courses in the MDes curriculum.
Paz Gutierrez, Associate Professor, Architecture
Paz Gutierrez is a registered architect and researcher focused on nature and multifunctional material Paz Gutierrez is a registered architect and researcher focused on nature and multifunctional material organizations. In 2008 she founded BIOMS, a new interdisciplinary research initiative intersecting architecture and sciences as bioengineering to integrate principles of design and biophysics. BIOMS develops next-generation material systems through funded research on biologically inspired technologies developed in collaboration with bioengineering and civil/environmental engineering. Paz also serves as the Director of the Undergraduate Program in Architecture.
Vivek Rao, Lecturer and Professional Faculty, Design & Innovation
Vivek Rao has a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering and his research explores the nexus of design, emerging technologies, and complex systems. His work is currently focused on design-driven interventions to support cybersecurity in emerging technologies. Vivek teaches design-driven innovation courses and is passionate about human-centered and systems design and technology R&D to solve complex, systems-scale problems. Vivek is teaching Technology Design Foundations, a core course in the MDes curriculum.
Grace O’Connell, Associate Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Grace O’Connell is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering and the Don M. Cunningham Endowed Professor. Her research explores the biomechanics of cartilage and intervertebral disc; tissue engineering; continuum modeling of soft tissues; intervertebral disc function, degeneration, and regeneration. She teaches Designing for the Human Body.
Kosa Goucher-Lambert, Assistant Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Kosa Goucher-Lambert is an assistant professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and his research explores design theory, methodology, and automation: decision-making applied to engineering teams and individuals; ideation and creativity; analogical reasoning in design; preference modeling and design attribute optimization; design cognition; neuroimaging methods applied to design; sustainable design; new product development; crowdsourcing and collaboration. Kosa teaches courses on integrated product development, with an emphasis on complex socio-technical challenges. Specific courses include Green Product Development: Design for Sustainability & Human-Centered Design Methods.
Gwynne Keathley, MDes Executive Director
Prior to joining the MDes team at Jacobs Institute, Gwynne Keathley served as Vice Provost for Research and Graduate Studies at MICA (Maryland Institute College of Art) Baltimore where she provided leadership to its art and design graduate programs and research centers. She is thrilled to bring her experience in graduate education, interdisciplinary curricula and academic administration to the MDes and is passionate about design education that amplifies opportunities for students to lead and have impact “beyond themselves” in their communities and professional fields.
Jacobs Makerspace Team
Joey Gottbrath, Technical Lab Director
Joey leads the technical team and is Jacobs Hall’s Technical Lab Director. Gottbrath has taught sculpture and digital design processes at Autodesk Pier 9, The Crucible, California College of the Arts, and Diablo Valley College. He specializes in creative space management and his furniture work involves contemporary interpretations of Queen Anne furniture.
Cody Glen, Design Specialist
Cody is a designer, fabricator, and roboticist whose work centers around surface rationalization and computational solutions for complex facade and enclosure problems. His interest is in computational design and digital fabrication and their roles within the greater discourse of design. Contact him about CNC fabrication, PCB fabrication, robotics, computation, optimization, and general design questions.
Graduate Student Profiles
Emiel Cockx
issuu.com/emiel_cockx/docs/emiel_cockx_-_portfolio Emiel Cockx is a student from Belgium, studying for his Master of Architecture at UC Berkeley as a fellow of the Belgian American Educational Foundation. He combines his passion for design with a love for classical music, playing cello in the UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra and performing with his Piano Trio throughout the United States.
Stephanie Claudino Daffara
cdste.com Stephanie Claudino Daffara is a fifth-year Master of Science student in Computer Science at UC Berkeley. Starting off as a filmmaker, Stephanie now mixes these fields as an immersive experience creator and is one of the developers behind BAMPFA AR augmented reality exhibit.
Christine Dierk
www.christinedierk.com Christine Dierk is a PhD student in the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences at UC Berkeley. Her research in Cosmetic Computing seeks to explore new possibilities for on-body wearable devices.
Jenna Frowein
www.jennafrowein.com Jenna is currently pursuing a Master of Architecture and a certificate in Real Estate Development at UC Berkeley. With prior degrees in architectural design and civil engineering, Jenna is passionate about sustainable design and the applications of biomimicry and computational analysis to architecture and structural engineering.
Molly Jane Nicholas
Molecule.github.io
Molly Jane Nicholas is a Ph.D. student studying Human-Computer Interaction in the Computer Science department at UC Berkeley. She is particularly interested in exploring how the performing arts and technology can combine in new and interesting ways.
Eldon Schoop
eldon.io Eldon Schoop is a Ph.D. student in Computer Science at UC Berkeley who is interested in exploiting the fusion of human and machine intelligence, particularly in embedded and physical systems. His current work focuses on introducing concepts and metaphors from software engineering to develop more usable machine learning development and prototyping tools.
Return to the MDes Admitted Student webpage.