2021-2023
The Phoenix project is a 316-unit residential development in Oakland, California currently under construction. It is also an “innovation village” for reinventing how we design and make housing by leveraging digital workflows and industrialized construction to reduce the buildings’ construction cost, project duration, and carbon footprint by about 50% compared to a typical project.
The team started with outcome-based design to balance complex goals for carbon, cost, and community. Based on sustainability goals, the team reduced embodied carbon by developing a first-of-its-kind carbon-negative facade.
This innovative facade leverages the existing performance capabilities of Fiber Reinforced Polymer (FRP) sandwich panels and dramatically reduces its carbon footprint while meeting or exceeding its other performance characteristics by implementing a mycelium composite structural core, grown of high-density mycelium—a carbon-negative material.
Role: Sustainability Assessment Manager and Co-lead of Carbon-Negative Facade Development
In collaboration with: MBH Architects, Factory_OS, Kreysler and Associates, Ecovative and Autodesk Research
Publication: Autodesk, ArchDaily
2019
A.I. Chair is the result of my collaboration with renowned Industrial designer Philippe Starck and Italian contemporary furniture maker Kartell.
This is the first chair for the commercial market using Autodesk's generative design technology and is a demonstration of how generative design is empowering today's designers to reach new heights in form and function.
The aim of the project was to use Generative Design to produce a minimal chair design within Starck's given design constraints, as well as adhere to the constraints of injection molding manufacturing. Over a year and a half, Starck's design team and I drove the generation process toward an outcome that met the defined requirements. Once the design was finalized by Starck's team, Kartell joined the project to manufacture the chair. The chair will be released for the market in October 2019 in six colors of polypropylene thermoplastic.
Role: Lead Computational Designer
In Collaboration: Philippe Starck-- Starck Design team, & Mark Davis of Autodesk Research
Publication Fast co , Dezeen , Redshift , DesignBoom
2018
The search for life beyond earth is extending to the outer planets of the solar system. GAMMA is a concept space exploration lander designed using experimental AI-based software to significantly reduce mass for future missions to the outer solar system.
GAMMA addresses a complex set of requirements including serviceability during assembly, vibration of the structure during launch, radiation exposure, and thermal changes throughout the journey. GAMMA leverages generative design and advanced manufacturing to achieve a mass reduction of 35% for the main structural component of the lander, compared to a conventional design. An advanced manufacturing process using 3D printed molds for sand casting enabled the design freedom to produce a unique large-scale hollow structural chassis.
GAMMA is the most complex generative design to date, meeting some of the most rigorous engineering standards to answer one of the grandest challenges – the discovery of life beyond earth.
Role: Lead Computational Designer and Fabricator of Lander Legs, Supporting Designer of overall design and project
In collaboration with:
Autodesk Research: Karl Willis, Daniele Grandi, Andreas Bastian, John Schmier, Mark Davis
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Lab: Raul Polit Casillas, Rafael Martinez, Christine Gebara, Tom Cwik
2017
This reception desk uses a novel method for both fabrication and design by reinforcing thin sheet metal with robotically controlled welded patterns that are generated through a multi-objective evolutionary algorithm. The result is a reception desk made of only 0.1 inch thick sheet metal, reinforced to hold the weight of a 200lb table top.
The process starts with a setup of a parametric model of a sheet metal surface that uses an evolving genetic algorithm which can easily scale to the different size of panels and resolutions of reinforcement for the weight of its table top. This parametrization creates a complex design space and a wide variety of design solutions. These design solutions are then tested for structural metrics and optimized according to structural goals.
Once an optimal design is achieved, it is fabricated using a custom robotic welding workflow. Starting with a thin sheet of steel, the robot uses a custom end-effector and a modifed-short circuit metal inert gas (MIG) welding process to transfer metal along paths specified by the digital model. These paths selectively reinforce the sheet so to meet the structural goals of the design.
Role: Lead Fabricator, Computational Design Assistant
In collaboration with: Nick Cote, Ray Wang, Danil Nagy, David Benjamin of Autodesk Research.
2016
The Elbo chair was created through Autodesk's generative design software. Generative design mimics nature’s evolutionary approach to design, where a designers input design goals into the software, along with parameters such as materials, manufacturing methods, and weight constraints. Using cloud computing, the software explores hundreds of possible permutations of a solution, allowing a designer to find the best solution that fits their design criteria. The result is a chair with 18% less volume than the original design, a 90% decrease in maximum displacement, and an 80% decrease in maximum stresses. The chair was then fabricated with a CNC in solid Walnut.
Role: Lead Computational Designer and Fabricator
Exhibition
The Elbo Chair has been exhibited in (SF MoMa) San Francisco Museum of Modern Art's 2018 Exhibition, 'Designed in California'.
Awards: The Elbo Chair was listed in the top 10 most innovated objects of 2016 by Wired Magazine.
In collaboration: Brittany Presten
Publication: Wired, Digital Engineer, Frame Magazine
2016
Time-Machine is an unorthodox three dimensional time-telling instrument. Its cylindrical void replaces the conventional clock’s central axis and associated hands, creating a sense of depth and mystery. Each hour is represented by a single segment in a twelve-segment ring-of-lights that progress from one to twelve lighted segments every twelve hours. Twelve wings successively rotate 180 degrees to denote five-minute periods while alternating the instrument’s face between dark and light each hour. These five-minute, one-hour and half-day transformations create visual and visceral reminders of the passage of time, analogous to each day’s cycling between light and dark. Twenty-five units were made with the outer form being CNCed in anodized aluminum and the internal gears being 3Dprinted in resin. Each unit sits on a limestone base.
Role: Designer and Fabrication Lead
In Collaboration:
Autodesk: Carl Bass, Lucas Prokopiak
Lunar Design: Jeff Smith and Gerard Furbershaw
2016
The Arbor Lamp is fabricated using a Supervised High-Rate Metal Printing(SHRMP) technique developed by Autodesk's Applied Research Lab. The printing technique utilizes a 6-axis industrial robot arm and welding machines to print structures with stainless steel metal. The system is controlled by a closed-loop feedback system using cameras and computer vision algorithms to allow for real-time correction of unexpected disturbances in the process.
Role: LeadDesigner and Fabrication Assistant
In Collaboration: Evan Atherton, Nick Cote, Heather Kerrick of Autodesk Research
2016
The Taper Table base was developed to explore the new possibilities and workflows to furniture design that CNC fabrication enables. The result is a table base that joins three organically shaped legs that would otherwise be challenging to assemble without relying on the programmatic precision of CNC’ed tapered dovetails as a clamping mechanism.
Role: Designer and Fabricator
In Collaboration: Carl Bass
2015
This lamp is an exploration of the precision of light-weighting algorithms found in Autodesk’s Netfabb software. The result is a lamp body that counterbalances a solid stainless steel weight. The balance provides the user of the lamp a way to hold the position of the lamp head at any desired angle.
The body was fabricated with aluminum metal 3D printers and the stand and counterweight were CNC machined.
Role: Designer and Fabricator
2015
Music video props for Icelandic music artist Bjork. The song 'Black Lake' was a single from her 2015 album, Vulnicura. 3D Modeled in Fusion 360, 3D Printed in flexible resin, painted and assembled by Bjork's creative team.
Role: Designer and Fabricator
In Collaboration: Bjork, James Merry, Andrew Thomas Huang
2015
Ember Jewelry was an exercise to test the Autodesk Ember printer with the different printable resins on the market for metal casting. These pieces were 3D modeled in Fusion360, printed on Autodesk's Ember printer and metal casted in Sterling Silver. 30 sets of earrings and necklaces were made each with a custom machined box.
Role: Designer and Fabricator
2014
Assisted in the design and fabrication of the 2014 Burning Man Temple with original temple architect David Best and his team.
Role: Designer & Fabricator
In Collaboration: David Best, Marisha Farnsworth, Temple Crew
