College of Architecture News

College of Architecture New Faculty & Staff

Atlanta (November 3, 2006) — The College of Architecture welcomes the following new faculty and staff:

Tristan Al-Haddad (Visiting Assistant Professor, Architecture Program) holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in architecture from Georgia Tech.

Al-Haddad will assist in leading the College’s efforts in appropriating and radicalizing digital technologies for architectural design purposes. Having taught a variety of courses in the area of design computing and design studio, he is focusing his current research and teaching on the continuous exploration of digital technology in the design, representation, analysis, and production of geometrically complex architectures.

Al-Haddad is also a research faculty member at the College’s Advanced Wood Products Laboratory, where his research is directed in the field of CAD/CAM technologies, finite element analysis, and materiality. He is also a working designer and visual artist.

Donny Allen (Visiting Professor, Music Department) is presently a candidate for the Doctorate in Musical Arts in conducting at the University of Memphis. Allen earned his master’s in instrumental conducting and bachelor’s in music education from East Carolina University in Greenville, North Carolina.

Allen will serve as assistant director for the Yellow Jacket Marching Band, conductor of the Georgia Tech Concert Band, and assistant director for the basketball Pep Band. Previously, Allen served as assistant director of the University of Memphis marching band.

Daniel Castro-Lacouture (Assistant Professor, Building Construction) received his PhD from the School of Civil Engineering at Purdue University in 2003, a master’s in construction management and engineering from the University of Reading (UK) in 1999, and a bachelor’s in civil engineering from Universidad de Los Andes, Colombia in 1994.

Prior to coming to Georgia Tech, Castro-Lacouture served as an assistant professor of construction engineering and management in the Department of Civil Engineering at Ohio University.

Castro-Lacouture will teach courses in construction cost management and estimating. His current research focuses on the applicability and design of B2B e-work solutions for construction processes, sustainability, and automation in construction.

Parag Chordia (Assistant Professor, Music Department) received his PhD in media computer-based music theory and acoustics from Stanford University’s CCRMA, and his bachelor’s in applied mathematics from Yale University.

Chordia will be part of the music technology group specializing in music information retrieval (MIR) research and applications. Through his research, Chordia attempts to synthesize advances in pattern recognition and signal processing to create systems that can “listen” intelligently. He is particularly interested in creating tools that can be used to advance research in computational music theory and music cognition.

Ellen Yi-Luen Do (Associate Professor, Architecture PhD Program and College of Computing) received her PhD in design computing from Georgia Tech, with a minor in cognitive science; a master’s in design studies from the Harvard Graduate School of Design; and a bachelor’s in architecture (honors) from National Cheng-Kung University in Taiwan, with a minor in urban planning.

Before joining Georgia Tech, Do was on the faculty in the computational design program at Carnegie Mellon University, where she co-directed the Computational Design Laboratory.

Do is committed to building better design tools, from understanding the human intelligence involved in the design process to leading the improvement of the interface with computers. Her research explores new modalities of communication, collaboration, and coordination, as well as the physical and virtual worlds that push the current boundaries of computing environments for design.

Mercer “Tripp” Edwards III (Director of the Architecture Shop) earned his master’s in industrial design at Georgia Tech and a BFA in sculpture and photography from the State University of West Georgia. Edwards returns to Tech after a decade of work in the industrial design field building models and prototypes.

As director of the Architecture Shop, he maintains the shop, ensures its safe use, and instructs students as they explore their designs. He will also be instrumental to the future of the shop as it grows its rapid prototyping capabilities.

Yeon-Suk Jeong (Postdoctoral Fellow, PhD Program) received his PhD in the Department of Civil Engineering from Yonsei University, with his dissertation titled “System Integration Framework through Development of STEP-based Information Model for Steel Bridges.” He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the School of Architecture at the University of Ulsan in Korea.

Before joining Georgia Tech, Jeong was a postdoctoral fellow in the Computational Structural Engineering Laboratory at Yonsei University. He directed and co-directed numerous large-scale R&D projects for integrated information management of civil infrastructure funded by the Korean government. Currently, his focus is on a wide scope of expertise including product modeling based on ISO/STEP methodology, computational structural engineering, and mechanics system integration in the IT-based construction industry.

Brenda Morris (Recruitment Officer, Building Construction) received a master’s in education from the University of Florida in 1989 and a bachelor’s in journalism from the University of Florida in 1986. She is active with several local professional organizations including Building Owners and Managers Association, Greater Atlanta Home Builders, Southface, Associated Builders & Contractors, International Facility Management Association, and National Association of Women In Construction.

Gernot Riether (Assistant Professor, Architecture Program) studied architecture at the University of Texas at Arlington and the Dublin Institute of Technology. He received his Diplom Ingineur in Architecture from the University of Innsbruck, Austria, and a master’s from Columbia University.

Riether, an architect based in New York and Vienna, Austria, relocated to Atlanta in August. He is working on a wide range of projects, from the scale of a building to the scale of a 1 million-square-foot master plan.

He was an honorary fellow of the Bundesministerium fuer Wissenschaft und Kunst in Vienna in 1999. He collaborated with Jesse Reiser, Lindy Roy, Galia Solomonoff, and Fabian Marcaccio. Riether has taught design studios, seminars, and workshops at the New York Institute of Technology. He was also an adjunct professor at Columbia and Barnard Colleges at Columbia University. He has also taught at the University of Innsbruck and regularly serves as guest critic at the Cooper Union, Princeton University, and Pratt Institute.

Leslie N. Sharp (Director of Special Projects) received her PhD in history of technology from Georgia Tech, a master’s in history with an emphasis in historic preservation from Middle Tennessee State University, and a bachelor’s in history from the University of Georgia.

Sharp came to Tech from Middle Tennessee State University, where she held a joint appointment as an associate professor in the Center for Historic Preservation and History Department. From 1993 to 1999, Sharp worked at the Historic Preservation Division of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, where she coordinated the National Register of Historic Places and the Georgia Women’s History Initiative and chaired the Georgia Centennial Farm Committee.

As director of Special Projects, Sharp will develop and execute special projects to support and expand the College’s mission of education, research, and outreach.

Matthew Swarts (Research Scientist I, IMAGINE Lab) graduated from Georgia Tech in 2006 with a bachelor’s in architecture. While a student at Georgia Tech, he worked in the IMAGINE Lab as a student assistant. Now as a research scientist, he will be working on the use of game engine technology for real-time analysis of architectural space and design.

Robert Szurgot (Research Scientist I, Advanced Wood Products Laboratory) holds degrees in business administration from Albright College and and an associate’s degree in mechanical engineering from Pennsylvania State University. He is currently working on his MID at Georgia Tech. At AWPL, Szurgot will concentrate on CNC instruction. He also will be working with Professor Russell Gentry to further develop AWPL’s research.

Claudia Rébola Winegarden (Visiting Assistant Professor, Industrial Design Program) completed her PhD in information design and her master’s in industrial design at North Carolina State University, College of Design. She received her bachelor’s in industrial design from Universidad Nacional de Córdoba.

She recently formed Elemento, an experience design consultancy, where she serves as director. She was a lead designer at Presentation Strategies, a Research Triangle Park-based incorporation, as well as director of Nexo Diseños, a graphic and industrial consulting design firm based in Argentina.

return to News Home Page

CoA News Archives > Jump to Year:   2009  |  2008  |  2007  |  2006  |  2005  |  2004