People
Faculty from the Harvard University Graduate School of Design (GSD) and John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) lead and provide core instruction in the MDE program. Additional instructors and guest critics are routinely incorporated into MDE courses to provide area expertise and experience from professional practice.
Program Co-Directors

Andrew Witt
Associate Professor in Practice of Architecture, GSD; Co-Founder, Certain Measures

Woodward Yang
HBS University Fellow; Gordon McKay Professor of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, SEAS
Program Faculty

Kipp Bradford
Preceptor in Engineering Sciences, SEAS; Chief Technology Officer, Gradient

Kathleen Brandenburg
Design Critic in Architecture, GSD; Co-founder of IA Collaborative

Elizabeth Bowie Christoforetti
Assistant Professor in Practice of Architecture, GSD; Founding Principal, Supernormal

Mark F. Coughlin
Lecturer in Engineering Design, SEAS

Jonathan Grinham
Assistant Professor of Architecture, GSD

Alexandros Haridis
Lecturer in Engineering Design, SEAS

Jock Herron
Design Critic in Design Engineering, GSD

Karen Korellis Reuther
Design Critic in Architecture, GSD

Siqi Zhu
Preceptor in Engineering Sciences, SEAS; Director of Urban Technologies & Planning, Assoc. Principal, Sasaki
“I knew going into the program that our cohort would be made up of deeply talented individuals from a variety of backgrounds, and I anticipated that we would all have different skillsets and knowledge bases. What I did not anticipate was that our interests and ways of working would be so closely aligned: across the board, there’s a desire to think systematically, understand details, and make a positive contribution to society.”
-Brian Ho, MDE ’18-

Gail Alderson
B.S. in Computer Science

Ghalya Alsanea
Bachelor of Architecture

Valentina Arango Low
B.S. Industrial Engineering

Sneha Arvind
B.Des in Industrial Design; specialization in Furniture and Interior Design

Joachim Asare
B.S. in Electrical & Electronics Engineering

Max Bock-Aronson
B.S in Mechanical Engineering

Kamila Czachorowski
B.A. in Anthropology, Secondary in Computer Science

Riad El Soufi
B.Eng. Civil Engineering

Darren Chin
Bachelor of Commerce, Operations Management

Akhil Dayal
B.A. in Mathematics

Sara Falkson
B.A in Human-Centered Design, Digital Arts, and Anthropology

Deepika Gopalakrishnan
Bachelor of Product Design

Binita Gupta
B.S.E. in Computer Science

Malcolm Grba
M.A Teaching; B.S.M Finance; B.A Political Economy

Jingfei Huang
Bachelor of Architecture

Aqdas Kamal
B.Eng. Materials Science and Engineering, MSc Biomedical and Bioengineering

Allison Karp
B.S. Aerospace Engineering with Minor in Mathematics

Vaishnavi Krishnamurthy
B.Engineering

Jessica Kwon
B.S. Psychology & Human-Computer Interaction

Mackenzie Li
B.S. & M.S. in Computer Science

Yiko Li
BFA Design & Technology; B.A. Interdisciplinary Science

Gelei (Grace) Mai
Bachelor of Architecture & B.F.A. in Fine Arts

Lurein Perera
Computer Science and Economics

Brandon Read
B.S. Computer Science

Cedric-Pascal Sommer
B.S. in International Business Administration

Shivesh Sood
B.Eng. in Electronics Engineering

Julius Stein
B.A. in Computer Science, MEd in Curriculum and Teaching

Fatima Mamu
B.S. Electrical Engineering

Prachi Mehta
M.A. Communications; B.S. Engineering

Linh Pham
M.A. Visual Communications Design; B.A. Economics

Daniel Rodríguez Rodríguez
Biomedical Engineering

Hesan Sedaghat
B.S. Mechanical Engineering

Hui-Ying Suk
B.S. in Mechanical Engineering & Geosciences

Siddharth UR
Bachelor of Design (B.Des) with a specialization in Industrial Design

Connie Wang
Bachelor of Architecture

Yujie Wang (王宇杰)
B.A. in Architecture with Environment & Energy Engineering; Master in Computational Design

Jiabin Wei
M.E. in Urban Planning and Policy Design

Vera (Yu) Wu
Bachelor of Landscape Architecture

Sangyu Xi
B.S. in Industrial Design

Daeun Yoo
B.A. in Fine Arts, Minor in Business Administration

Wenbo Zhang
Master of Architecture, Cornell University

Aman Kaleem
Visiting Artist at Harvard University, M.A. Mass Communication with specialization in Film

Abigail Swallow
B.S. in Social Policy

Priyanka Pillai
Bachelor in Industrial Design

Joyce Lee
B.F.A in Fiber and Material Studies, M.F.A in Design for Emerging Technologies
MDE alumni take the skills, tools, and techniques developed during the program into a variety of fields, industries, and research institutions. Some MDE alumni work for large corporations, others for startups, non-profits, or in the academy. Their pursuits are as diverse as their backgrounds, and several have started ventures based on work in the MDE program.
Featured Alumni Stories

Nupur Gurjar
Students in Dialogue: A conversation with MDE candidate Nupur Gurjar

Maximilian Mueller
Students in Dialogue: A Conversation with Maximilian Mueller
Alumni Directory
The following listing includes a selection of MDE alumni.

Zeerak Ahmed

Nicole Adler

Ed Bayes

Rebecca Brand

Kedrick Brown

Jeronimo Beccar

Jeremy Burke

Nicholas Collins

Jenny Fan

Brian Ho

Vivek HV

Divyanka Kapoor

Togo Kida

Mimi Kigawa

Arjun Menon

Katrina Armistead

Maximilian Mueller

Santiago Mota

Caroline Fong

Elizabeth Price

Michael Raspuzzi

Kenneth So

Vish Srivastava

Karen Su

Mengxi Tan

Kiran Wattamwar
The MDE Industry Advisors are a group of industry experts from diverse fields—design, engineering, education, consulting, technology, and more. They are regularly invited to join reviews of student work and provide career advice, or might advise a second year ‘Independent Design Engineering Project’ (IDEP). The interdisciplinary expertise of our industry advisors reflects the innovation, ingenuity, goals, and values of the program, and provides invaluable support to the collaborative nature of MDE.

Sean Chiao
Group CEO, Surbana Jurong Group

Dana Cho
Chief Design Officer, Verily Life Sciences

Karen Harris
Managing Director of Macro Trends Group, Bain & Company

Jonathan Hursh
Founding Partner, Utopia

Ana Pinto da Silva
CEO, 2G3R Inc.

David Radcliffe
Former VP of Real Estate and Workplace Services, Google

Wolfgang Rieder
Entrepreneur

Randy Swearer
Vice President, Learning Futures, Autodesk

Harry West
Professor of Practice, Columbia University; Principal at Invisible Design
“I remember in the first advisory board meeting that we, as advisors, looked at each other and said we would love to be students in the program ourselves. It was remarkable to see leaders of IDEO, frog, and AECOM be provoked with a childlike curiosity to learn again. The ambition and audacity of the program drew this out in them. I know we shared a keen sense that it is critical for the world that we produce designers who can handle the complexity that is rushing our way.”
-Jonathan Hursh, Founder of Utopia-