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The Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture is pleased to announce the inaugural recipients of the 2025 Graduate Student Research Enhancement (GSRE) Award, a new program designed to support graduate-led research with strong potential to advance scholarship across the design and construction disciplines. These student principal investigators will carry out original projects under the guidance of a faculty co-PI, with results to be shared at a future Gibbs College research symposium.
This year’s awardees represent the Haskell & Irene Lemon Division of Construction Science, the Division of Interior Design, and the PhD program in Planning, Design & Construction. Their projects demonstrate an impressive range of inquiry—from virtual reality and aging vision, to biomimetic façades, mass timber construction, and digital twin technologies.
Yousef Haghighi (PhD student, Planning, Design & Construction) will develop the “Breathing Eye,” a bio-inspired, climate-adaptive façade system that regulates daylight, heat, and airflow through iris-like apertures and responsive vents. Drawing on biomimicry, parametric modeling, environmental simulation, digital fabrication, and sensor integration, this project seeks to prototype a new category of low-energy, responsive building skins. The work aims to advance intelligent façade technologies capable of adapting dynamically to environmental conditions while reducing reliance on mechanical systems. The faculty co-PI on this project is Dr. Shakil Shimul.
Amirhossein Jafari (master’s student, Construction Science) will explore how Digital Twins—virtual building replicas connected to real-time data—paired with Augmented Reality can support field technicians in facilities management. His project will define and validate an “Intelligent Reality” system architecture that delivers interactive, context-aware building information directly to workers in the field. Through literature analysis, Delphi sessions, and focus groups, the study aims to identify the data flows, interaction methods, and core features needed to improve on-site troubleshooting, maintenance efficiency, and decision-making. The faculty co-PI on this project is Dr. Kofi Asare.
Ramtin Mir (PhD student, Planning, Design & Construction) will create a BIM-enabled value engineering framework to enhance the cost-effectiveness of mass timber construction in the retail sector—an area with significant potential but limited existing evaluation tools. His project combines life cycle cost analysis, expert surveys, and business process modeling to assess design alternatives using both quantitative and qualitative measures. The resulting workflow will help architects, engineers, and developers make more informed decisions about mass timber’s viability and performance in commercial applications. The faculty co-PI on this project is Dr. Shideh Shadravan.
Nikita Shrestha (master’s student, Interior Design) will investigate how color and contrast influence wayfinding for aging adults using high-resolution VR eye-tracking technology. Her project will capture real-time gaze behavior, pupil response, and visual attention patterns in simulated interior environments to better understand how older users perceive and navigate space. By translating these findings into evidence-based design recommendations, her research aims to improve accessibility, signage legibility, and spatial clarity for aging populations in built environments. The faculty co-PI on this project is Dr. Suchi Bhattacharjee.
Gibbs College congratulates the inaugural 2025 GSRE awardees and celebrates the vision, rigor, and creativity reflected in their work!
Associate Professors Lee Fithian, Ph.D., and Elizabeth Pober have published a chapter in the recently released New Perspectives in Indoor Air Quality, published by Elsevier. Their contribution, titled “Chapter 16 – Architecture and the Challenges of Indoor Air Quality,” examines the relationship between architecture and indoor air quality.
Dr. Ladan Mozaffarian, Assistant Professor of Regional and City Planning, has been selected to serve as Co-Chair of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning (ACSP) Planners of Color Interest Group (POCIG) for the 2025–2027 term.
The Gibbs College of Architecture is proud to recognize Tahsin Tabassum, a recent graduate of the college’s Master of Regional and City Planning program and current doctoral student at the University of California, Irvine, for receiving the prestigious 2024–2025 American Planning Association (APA) Outstanding Student Award.
