Designers

for

the

Future

May 1, 2024

About

Since its launch in October 2022, the MIT Morningside Academy for Design (MAD) has been working to create a shared, inter-disciplinary culture of design at MIT, aimed at tackling our most pressing societal and environmental challenges. The best representatives of this ambition are MAD’s Design Fellows—graduate MIT students/researchers currently exploring the frontiers of design.

Our event will bring together, in dialogue, three generations of Design Fellows: the inaugural 2022 cohort, the current 2023 group, and the newly selected 2024 designers. With all of them, we will see how design is fundamental to address environmental, health, and technical challenges across three themes:

Bodies
Objects
Environments

Speakers

JAMES BRICE
James investigates the design of nature-based solutions for coastal adaptation with oyster reefs, working to provide coastal communities with the guidance to create physically, ecologically, and socially resilient waterfronts.

CLEMENCE COUTEAU
Clemence is tackling the rise of postpartum depression (PPD) among U.S. mothers by aiming to develop a digital solution empowering at-risk pregnant women to improve mental health outcomes. This involves a self-directed therapy chatbot in a mobile app, based on the “ROSE” protocol.

GANIT GOLDSTEIN
Ganit examines how computational design workflow can be used to generate sustainable customized garments, and how new capabilities can be incorporated into fabric constructions.

DENÍ LÓPEZ
Dení utilizes design in Participatory Action Research (PAR) to address community needs and advocate for social justice, particularly in disaster risk management. By integrating design, she develops problem-solving strategies, bridges theory and real-world applications, and enhances community engagement with a focus on Zapotec communities in southern Mexico.

LIANE MAKATURA
Liane writes software that helps people design and optimize 3D-printable structures with exceptional properties, such as the ability to block sound or be simultaneously strong and lightweight.

ELIJAH MARTIN
Elijah focuses on understanding the environmental fate of a variety of plastics, in order to develop design rules for more sustainable polymers and systems that still meet consumer needs.

MARIAMA N'DIAYE
Mariama studies how government agencies can leverage human-centered design methodologies across agencies to build better and more resilient programs, policies, and places in cities in the Global South.

LYLE REGENWETTER
Throughout his years at MIT, Lyle has developed AI tools for design, putting them in the hands of designers at MIT and throughout the broader community. He seeks to develop more capable tools that can rapidly generate innovative designs to meet complex requirements while expanding the impact of AI in design.

ALEXANDRA RIEGER
Alexandra is implementing MediMusical designs as part of a stroke patient study at Harvard's Mass General. She seeks to develop and deploy standardizing solutions, assistive technologies, and inspired designs underscored by music for cognitive pathologies and further challenges facing our world today.

Registration

Online registration is available until April 28. On-site registration will also be available.

Seating is limited. Early arrival is suggested.

REGISTER HERE

Accessibility

Our events are enriched by your presence and we are committed to making them accessible.

Please email us at [email protected] to request accommodations.