A Year of Momentum: Reports from Wentworth's Five Deans

September 3, 2026

School of Architecture & Design's 2025-2026 Academic Year Impact Report

Dear friends of the Wentworth School of Architecture and Design,

As the 2025-2026 academic year draws to a close, I would like to extend warm congratulations to all our 2026 graduates. We are confident they will shape the future of design and create more sustainable and equitable built environments.  

As we begin the 2026-2027 academic year, I am pleased to share some reflections from the past year at the School of Architecture and Design, including New Faculty and Staff; School, Student, Alumni, and Faculty Highlights; and Partnerships and Outreach.

New Faculty & Staff

Along with numerous new part-time instructors, we are excited to welcome two new full-time faculty members: 

• Dr. Emek Erdolu, Ph.D. in Computational Design from Carnegie Mellon University, was hired as Assistant Professor of Architecture after serving in academic appointments at Carnegie Mellon University and Tulane University, where his teaching and scholarship have focused on the intersection of architectural design, building performance, and computational workflows through hands-on prototyping, simulation-informed iteration, and evidence-based design decision-making.

• Emmanuel Osorno, M.Arch. from Princeton University, was hired as Lecturer in Architecture after academic appointments as a Visiting Assistant Professor at Wentworth Institute of Technology, a Visiting Assistant Teaching Professor at Northeastern University, and an Architecture and Social Innovation Fellow at Tulane University, where his teaching, design, and research explore the role of media in shaping perceptions of architecture, with a focus on representation, housing affordability, and placemaking.

We are also excited to welcome three new full-time staff members in the role of Lab Technician and Technical Instructor:

• Haley Dando, M.Arch. from Wentworth Institute of Technology, was hired after serving as a Graduate Research Fellow at Wentworth, bringing experience in design, digital fabrication, and professional photography.

• Brandon Krazinski, M.S. in Education from Elmira College, previously worked as a Shop Technician at Cornell University and as a high school teacher in both visual arts and technology, bringing interdisciplinary expertise grounded in illustration, industrial design, and education.

• Daryush Dehnavi, B.S. Arch. from Wentworth Institute of Technology, was hired after working as a part-time Shop Technician at Wentworth and professionally as a designer and fabricator.

School Highlights

Public Programming:

In September 2025, the School of Architecture and Design hosted the national ACSA AI Design Practices Conference, co-chaired by Associate Professor Antonio Furguiele and Assistant Professor Tatjana Crossley, brought together leading scholars, practitioners, and researchers to examine the role of artificial intelligence in architecture and design. Featuring keynote speakers Antoine Picon (Harvard Graduate School of Design), Kent Larson (MIT Media Lab), and Neil Leach (European Graduate School and Tongji University), the conference explored computational creativity, AI in design, pedagogy, emerging design methodologies, and the future of professional practice, significantly elevating the School's national profile and reinforcing Wentworth's leadership in shaping the future of design education.

A landmark achievement of the School this year was the launch of Wentworth's first center, the Community Design + Research Center (CDRC), co-directed by Associate Professor Ignacio Cardona, Associate Professor Rob Trumbour, and Professor Anne Catrin Schultz. The Center advances community-engaged scholarship, applied research, public-interest design, interdisciplinary collaboration, and civic partnerships, positioning the School of Architecture and Design as a regional leader in design research while expanding opportunities for faculty and students to address real-world challenges.

The 2025-2026 Design Lecture Series, Design Agency, curated by Assistant Professors Tatjana Crossley, Sylvia DeLuca, and Katarina Richter-Lunn, explored the role of design within ecological, political, technological, and cultural systems through presentations by leading architects, designers, artists, and educators, including Takaharu + Yui Tezuka, Melodie Yashar, Garrett Finney, Sara Zewde, and Liam Young.

A new SoAD Film Screening Series complemented the lecture series, which featured a screening of Lewerentz Divine Darkness and an accompanying lecture by Johan Celsing and a screening of Owned: A Tale of Two Americas with director Giorgio Angelini. The program expanded the school's public engagement and fostered dialogue on the transformative impact of design.

Expanded Experiential Learning Opportunities:

Global experiential learning remained a hallmark of the School's programs:

• 46 B.S. Architecture students and 3 B.S. in Interior Design students participated in either fall 2025 or spring 2026 semester study abroad opportunities, with locations in Urbino, Italy; Girona, Spain; and Berlin, Germany
• 8 B.S. in Industrial Design students completed a summer 2025 program in Istanbul, Türkiye.
• 11 B.S. in Interior Design and 12 B.S. in Industrial Design students completed a summer 2026 program in Urbino, Italy
• 82 Master of Architecture students participated in the required Global Research Studios, with studios traveling to Japan, Italy, Scotland, Portugal, Greece, or the United Arab Emirates.

Additionally, this year, Visiting Assistant Professor Anas Soufan led his Architecture Studio 08 students on a trip to France over spring break, where they worked with the City of Laon to reimagine the conservation and adaptation of an ancient abbey. This work will be presented in a forthcoming publication.

Complementing these international experiences, the school offered extracurricular Analog Representation Workshops, a Revit workshop for architecture sophomores, and a KeyShot Animation Seminar hosted by Industrial Design's Frauhaus students in partnership with IDSA Boston.

New Degree Offerings:

The SoAD awarded its inaugural Graduate Certificate in Community-Engaged Design and Social Practice to its first cohort of five students, all of whom also earned a Master of Architecture degree.

The first full year of the new B.S. in Building Sciences program saw strong enrollment with nine newly admitted students. Additionally, there was great interest from existing architecture students, 13 of whom changed their major. The first group of Building Sciences students are expected to graduate next year (2027).

New Design Visualization Lab:

The School launched the Design Visualization Lab (VizLab) this spring, creating a dedicated space for photography, virtual reality, and emerging visualization technologies that expands access to current and future design tools for the entire SoAD community.

Accreditation Updates

The Interior Design program received a six-year accreditation renewal, effective November 2025. In March 2026, the Master of Architecture program hosted a NAAB accreditation review team as part of the professional degree reaccreditation process. The Industrial Design program is currently preparing for its NASAD reaccreditation visit, scheduled for winter 2027.

Student Highlights

• Sierra Bellaire and Erika White's (B.S. Industrial Design '25), senior capstone project, Olyra: Empowering Women on Their Fitness Journey, was selected for publication in Design Diffusion News Magazine, a leading European design publication.
• Emma Conant, Alyson Grovesteen, and teammates Conor Baron and Cameron Hsu (B.S. Industrial Design '25) each submitted their Industrial Design capstone projects to the International Design Excellence (IDEA) Awards Student Category. All four have advanced to the competition's second and final round. Finalists will be announced at the International Design Conference Annual Gala in August.
• Caroline Raber (B.S. Interior Design '25) received the award of Best Interior Design Student Project in the International Furnishings and Design Association (IFDA) New England 2025 Awards for her senior capstone project Cape Cod Village Redesign.
• Rianna Reynolds (B.S. Interior Design junior) won this year's International Interior Design Association (IIDA) New England Croquet scholarship for her Grow Roots Youth Shelter project.
• Kailash Letman (B.S. Architecture '26) received Wentworth Institute of Technology's Wentworth Bowl award for his excellent academic standing and in honor of his outstanding involvement and contributions to the Wentworth community.
• Kailash Letman (B.S. Architecture), Jack Cahill (M. Architecture), Laci Santos (B.S. Interior Design), and Nora Hess (B.S. Industrial Design) were each awarded Wentworth Institute of Technology's President's Award for Academic Excellence & Co-Curricular Involvement.
• Lily LaGrassa (B.S. Interior Design '26) and Sarah Carpenter (M.Architecture '26) were both recognized among the top graduating architecture and interior design students in the U.S. and Canada by Metropolis magazine's 2026 Future100 program.
• • Nora Hess (B.S. Industrial Design '26), was recognized as Wentworth's Industrial Design Society of America (IDSA) Student Merit Award winner and will represent Wentworth in the IDSA Northeast District. She was also featured in IDSA Boston's Designer Spotlight Series.
  • Luka Van Vlaenderen (B.S. Industrial Design junior) created the winning trophy design for the trophies presented at the IDSA Boston Winter Gala.
  • Cash Eck (B.S. Industrial Design sophomore) was part of an all-Wentworth team of students that won the Francis Allou Gershwin Local Social Action Award at the 20th annual Muddy River Symposium.
  • Liam Mobley, Robyn Barrios, and Elijah Robson (M.Architecture '26), were part of an interdisciplinary team of students from Wentworth Institute of Technology, Clark University, and University of Massachusetts Amherst who, with the guidance of Associate Professor Jennifer Lee Michalszyn, were awarded third place with their scheme Rooted Commons in the 2026 Affordable Housing Development Competition by FHL Bank Boston.
  • The SoAD held the 4thAnnual Dean's Award for Design Excellence, recognizing students who demonstrate exceptional design ability in the current academic year. One Dean's Award and one Students' Choice Award were given to each cohort of the B.S. Architecture, B.S. Building Sciences, B.S. Interior Design, and M.Arch programs. Award winners are currently featured in the SoAD Dean's Award exhibition at the CEIS Lobby.
  • Wentworth's International Interior Design Association (IIDA) Campus Center, a new student club, was launched by our B.S. Interior Design students. Students participated in the IIDA New England Fashion Show, with partnership support from Miller Knoll and Creative Office Resources.
  • FRAUHAUS, the Industrial Design student club, organized the 4th annual Design Intersections event, bringing together students, alumni, design professionals, and faculty with speakers Saloni Bedi, of LOFT, and Manasi Vaidya, of MathWorks.
  • The Freedom by Design student club worked with Lesley University students to create the exhibition New Landscapes, guided by Lesley's Rick Rawlins, Associate Professor Meliti Dikeos and Shop Technician and Technical Instructor Rosemary Taylor. Throughout the year the exhibition, initially conceived of in collaboration with Green Cambridge and exhibited at the Foundry in Cambridge, travelled to Cambridge City Hall Annex, Cambridge Arts Gallery 344, and Lesley University, prior to returning to Wentworth Institute of Technology.
  • The American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS) Wentworth chapter was represented at the 2026 Grassroots Conference held in Washington, D.C., with six Architecture students in attendance.

  Alumni Highlights

  • Dr. Maria Aiolova (B. Architecture, WIT and EdD in Organizational Leadership, Northeastern University), Director of Global Innovation and Digital & AI Fluency Lead, SJ Group, with Farah Naz (B. Engineering, WIT and M.Arch, AA), Global Climate Advisory Director, SJ Group, presented at the World Cities Summit 2026 in Singapore.
  • Danyson Tavares (M.Architecture '12), Executive Director of the Boston Society of Architecture (BSA) and previous Executive Director of YouthBuild Boston, was recognized on Boston Business Journal's 2026 40 Under 40 list.
  • Carla Gautier (M.Architecture '17), Founder & CEO of KONTi Design, was named a Tory Burch Foundation 2026 Fellow.
  • Tim Elrick (M.Architecture '19 and M.S in Aerospace Engineering, Georgia Tech '23), is a Senior Systems Engineer at Draper. His journey to become a space architect was highlighted in the February 12, 2026 Wentworth News article "Wentworth Under 30: Designing Habitats for Life Beyond Earth."
  • Raymond Lapiejko (M.Architecture '24) was awarded second place in Dezeen and Bentley's Radical Renewal global competition for his thesis project "Hoosac Stores Recycling & Repair Center."
  • Campbell Brod (M.Architecture '25), Architecture Designer at Payette and author of the thesis project "Vanishing Acts + (SIX): Architecture in the Age of Surveillance," earned an Archisource Drawing of the Year Award 2025, exhibited in the London Creates 2025 exhibition, and recently had his first solo show "Measures" at the Uncool Gallery in Brooklyn, NY.
  • Joshu Ssebuwufu (M.Architecture '24), a Designer + Project Manager at Studio Luz, was elected as the Northeast University director for the National Organization of Minority Architects (NOMA).
  • Rebecca Voys (B.S. Interior Design '20), an Interior Designer at Gensler, was honored in 2025 Interior Design Magazine's 30 under 30.
  • Justin Howe(B.S. Industrial Design '01), Executive Coach & Strategic Advisor and former VP of Footwear Design at Under Amour, was featured in the September 19th, 2025 Wentworth News article, "How Footwear Designer Justin Howe Found the Perfect Fit"
  • Gregory Cordeiro(B.S. Industrial Design '10), Founder, Owner, and CEO of EasyMoc, a shoe and boot making company in Lewiston, Maine was featured in an article on the Alliance for American Manufacturing website and in the October 28th, 2025 Wentworth News article, "Wentworth Alum Revitalizes American Shoemaking in Maine"
  • Joe Bradford (B.S. Industrial Design '12), principal AI product designer at Hasbro, was featured in the July 13th, 2026 Wentworth News article "This Wentworth Grad is Teaching Hasbro's Beloved Characters to Behave in the Age of AI."
  • Melvin Morales (B.S. Industrial Design '18), Senior Product Designer at NetDocuments, recently held his first photography exhibition at the West Charleston Library in Las Vegas, as featured in the June 9th , 2026 Wentworth News article "Beyond the Desert: Wentworth Alum's First Exhibition Reframes Nevada".
  • Courteney DiDomenico (B.S. Industrial Design '19), Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at Atúlo and Vice Chair of the Wentworth Alumni Association, was featured in the December 2nd, 2025 Wentworth News article "Wentworth Under 30: Leaving the Cubicle to Build a Global Brand.

Faculty Highlights

In addition to many invited talks, numerous papers published in journals (Ignacio Cardona, Robert Cowherd, Anne-Catrin Schultz), and conferences (Lynette Panarelli, Lora Kim, Garrick Goldenberg, Sylvia DeLuca, Seunghae Lee, Meliti Dikeos, Tatjana Crossley, Katarina Richter-Lunn), and exhibited work (Jeff Michael, Simon Williamson, Rob Meszaros, Liza Lynch, Carlos Villamil, Meliti Dikeos), SOAD faculty also received the following awards, accomplishments, and recognition:

• Professor Simon Williamson was awarded the Industrial Designers Society of America (IDSA) 2025 Education Award for educators who demonstrate exceptional achievement in advancing industrial design through teaching, scholarship, and service. Professor Williamson also received the IDSA Boston 2025 Golden Bean Award for Excellence in Design Education.
• Associate Professor Dr. Ignacio Cardona (PI) was awarded an Envision Resilience National Design Studio Grant for the course TapiriTech in N'dakinna - Adaptive Design with Indigenous and Non-Human Communities, and a travel grant for his research, "Ecosystemic Democracy and Spatial Framework Planning in Carapé." In addition to one journal and five conference papers, he also delivered a keynote speech at Habitat and Megatrends Conference in Caracas, Venezuela, titled "Restorative [Humans and Non-humans] Community Design."
• Dr. Tatjana Crossley's book Virtual Reality: Architecture, Culture, and the Body was published by Routledge. The book investigates how immersive environments, across architecture, art, and media, shape spatial perception, cultural identity, and the construction of reality.
• Architecture Professors John Ellis, Lora Kim, Jen Michalizyn, and Ingrid Strong received grants to attend the Timber Faculty Development Workshop at Auburn University.
• Associate Professor Antonio Furgiuele (Co-PI) and his team were awarded an Autodesk Research Residency with their proposal on "Adversarial Architecture: Authenticating the Built Environment in the Age of AI," and a Colleges of the Fenway Mini Grant, Smart Design vs. Smart Cheating: Low-Tech Ways to Make Paper Exams AI-Resistant, with Memo Ergezer and Rachel Maitra from the School of Computing and Data Science.
• Associate Professor Anthony Piermarini's architecture practice, Studio Luz, received a BSA/AIA award for their Dewitt Playground project.
• Associate Professor Jeff Michael exhibited two of his ceramic works in Hotter n' Hell, a juried national collegiate art exhibition held at Northwestern State University.
• Dr. Stephanie Rufino, Director of Undergraduate Design Programs, delivered invited lectures on her recently published book, Georgetown University: An Architectural History, at the AIA Center in New York City and for the Washington, DC Preservation League.
• Dr. Elizabeth Cooper, Director of Undergraduate Architecture Programs and Associate Professor, was invited to serve on the EDRA CORE Awards Committee.
• Dr. Jason Rebillot, Director of Graduate Programs and Associate Professor of Architecture, was appointed to the Special Review Committee of NAAB, which is responsible for writing the next set of accreditation standards for professional architecture programs.
• Professor Dr. Anne Catrin Schultz co-edited an issue at Dimensions Journal for Architectural Knowledge on "Prototypes as Instruments for Critical Practice."
• Professor Mark Pasnik was interviewed by Telesis Architecture Journal, French Morning, and NBC News Channel 10 Boston based on his expertise in design and architectural conservation. He was also a roundtable speaker at Historic Salem, Inc.'s Annual Conference.
• Assistant Professor Dr. N Jonathan (NJ) Unaka was a featured speaker for the 15th Annual MIT Sloan Africa Innovate Conference, where he shared his expertise in the lifecycle of architectural production and explored how high-performance engineering can be integrated with local cultural contexts to build the resilient, resource-efficient cities of Africa's future.
• Assistant Professor Dr. Katarina Richter-Lunn was a 2025 Built Environment Deans Advancing Change (BEDAC) Fellow and was awarded a Wentworth Spark Grant, with which she created "Animated Materiality," currently exhibited in the Casella Gallery.

Partnerships and Outreach

• Design for Impact (DFI) was offered for the second year, engaging eight Wentworth Industrial Design students in a multi-university collaboration with Clemson University, Virginia Tech, and Boston College to address the Stanford Center's Longevity Design Challenge under the guidance of Dr. Katarina Richter-Lunn and with support from Professor Simon Williamson.

• The Industrial Design Mentorship Program was launched in fall 2025, the Industrial Design Mentorship Program, led by Industrial Design alumni and Industry Professional Advisory Committee (IPAC) Co-Chairs Haik Tokatlyan and Courteney DiDomenico, connects junior and senior students with design professionals who provide career guidance and real-world industry perspectives, beginning with an inaugural on-campus mentor meet-and-greet.

• The School of Architecture and Design continued its partnership with the ACE Mentor Program Greater Boston, hosting major student events, including the Student Showcase, and providing weekly mentoring throughout the academic year to inspire high school students to pursue careers in architecture, engineering, and construction. Dean Sedef Doganer also serves on the ACE Greater Boston Board of Directors, reinforcing the school's commitment to expanding pathways into the built environment professions.

• The SummerFAB Community Greenhouse opening was held in June 2025 at the Tobin Community Garden Greenhouse in Mission Hill. Created in partnership with Sociedad Latina and designed and built by local high school and Wentworth students through the SummerFAB Pre-College Program, the project exemplifies the school's commitment to experiential learning, community engagement, and design for social impact.

• Built Environment Plus: Wentworth hosted the 2025  BE+Women in Green Networking Breakfast with a dynamic community of leaders in green building and sustainability and explored how women are redefining leadership, innovation, and impact in a changing world.

• WIT at Work: The Industrial Design program is currently showcasing student work in an exhibition at the Boston Sculptors Gallery in Boston's South End, featuring furniture, consumer products, speculative concepts, digital visualizations, and prototypes from across the curriculum. Curated by Professor Simon Williamson and Dennis Svoronos with support from IDSA Boston and Women in Design Boston, the exhibition highlights the program's emphasis on innovation, making, and visual storytelling.

The 2025-2026 academic year reflected the Wentworth School of Architecture & Design's continued leadership in design education, innovation, and community engagement. I am grateful to our faculty, staff, students, alumni, and partners whose contributions made this year's achievements possible-from the launch of the Community Design + Research Center and national leadership in AI and design to strategic faculty growth, student success, and expanded community and alumni partnerships. As we look ahead to 2026-2027, we are excited to welcome 315 new undergraduate and transfer students and 90 graduate students, bringing our community to more than 1,040 students as we continue preparing the next generation of designers to create a more equitable, sustainable, and innovative future.

Warmly,

Sedef Doganer, Ph.D. 
Dean
School of Architecture and Design

Kelly J. Hutzell, AIA
Associate Dean
School of Architecture and Design