People

Nathan Brown

Assistant Professor | CV

Nathan is a researcher with a broad academic and professional background involving structural engineering, architecture, and building science. Prior to joining the Department of Architectural Engineering at Penn State, he completed a PhD in Building Technology at MIT in 2019. Nathan was a part of the Digital Structures Research Group in the MIT Department of Architecture from 2014-2019, also earning an SMBT degree from MIT in 2016. His research seeks to understand how structural considerations interact with other performance and architectural criteria in conceptual building design, and how computation can play a role in the creative process. Nathan earned a BSE in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Princeton University with certificates in Architecture & Engineering and Urban Studies. He has worked for BuroHappold in Boston as a computational designer, and on building energy retrofit projects for Elevate Energy in Chicago. He was the recipient of the 2016 Structural Engineering Travel Fellowship from the Skidmore, Owings & Merrill Foundation.

Amir Boshrouei Shargh

PhD Student | Architectural Engineering

Amir is a PhD student interested in earthquake engineering and applications of machine learning for structural engineering. His research focuses on developing an optimization-based design methodology for mass timber lateral systems in buildings, considering both risk and sustainability design goals. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Shahrood University of Technology and an MS in Earthquake Engineering from the Ferdowi University of Mashhad.

Ali Alhussain

PhD Student | Architectural Engineering

Ali is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Architectural Engineering at PSU. His research interests include computational design and automation in construction, specifically additive manufacturing techniques like 3D concrete printing. For his master's thesis, he is developing a data-driven prediction model that can help in optimizing printing parameters for 3D concrete printing to enable the printing of freeform structures. He graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Architectural Engineering from King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals (KFUPM), where he concentrated on building science. Following graduation, he was employed by KFUPM as a Graduate Assistant, enabling him to continue his higher education and aim for a future in academia.

Parinaz Mansourimajoumerd

PhD Student | Architecture (advised by Orsolya Gáspár)

Parinaz is a PhD student advised by Dr. Orsolya Gáspár, an Assistant Professor of Architecture. She completed her Master of Architecture in 2024, focusing on the impact of building designs on structural volumes and embodied carbon emissions. Parinaz interned at KPF in NYC, where she developed a tool to calculate building structures' carbon emissions in the early design stages. In 2023, Parinaz received the IAAP Scholarship from President Dr. Hessam Yazdan, and in 2022, she was awarded the Albert H. Drachman Memorial Scholarship. At Penn State, Parinaz is an active Hamer Center for Community Design member. Her research interests focus on parametric design to achieve low carbon emissions and high-performance buildings.

Skylar Farrow

MS Student | Architectural Engineering

Skylar is currently pursuing his integrated Master of Science and Bachelor of Architectural Engineering with a focus in structures. He interned at Thornton Tomasetti and Bala Consulting Engineers in NYC as a structural engineering intern. For his master’s thesis, he is leveraging ML models to predict carbon effective methods of mitigating vibrations in steel framed structures, allowing him to combine his passion for computational design, artificial intelligence, and structural engineering.

Vipul Sachdeva

MS Student | Computer Science Engineering

Vipul is currently pursuing his Master of Science in Computer Science Engineering. He graduated with a Bachelor of Technology in CSE from Amity University, India and has over three years of professional experience as a Software Engineer. His research interests include data analytics, performance evaluation, and distributed systems. At Penn State, Vipul aims to contribute to projects involving computational science and applied computer science