Four new faculty members join the School of Architecture and Planning (SA+P) this fall, offering the MIT community creativity, knowledge, and scholarship in multidisciplinary roles.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese individuals add considerable strength and depth to our faculty,\u201d says Hashim Sarkis, dean of the School of Architecture and Planning. \u201cWe are excited for the academic vigor they bring to research and teaching.\u201d<\/p>\n
Karrie G. Karahalios<\/a> \u201994, MEng \u201995, SM \u201997, PhD \u201904 joins the MIT Media Lab as a full professor of media arts and sciences. Karahalios is a pioneer in the exploration of social media and of how people communicate in environments that are increasingly mediated by algorithms that, as she has written, \u201cshape the world around us.\u201d Her work combines computing, systems, artificial intelligence, anthropology, sociology, psychology, game theory, design, and infrastructure studies. Karahalios\u2019 work has received numerous honors including the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship, SIGMOD Best Paper Award, and recognition as an ACM Distinguished Member.<\/p>\n Pat Pataranutaporn<\/a> SM \u201918, PhD \u201920 joins the MIT Media Lab as an assistant professor of media arts and sciences. A visionary technologist, scientist, and designer, Pataranutaporn explores the frontier of human-AI interaction, inventing and investigating AI systems that support human thriving. His research focuses on how personalized AI systems can amplify human cognition, from learning and decision-making to self-development, reflection, and well-being. Pataranutaporn will co-direct the Advancing Humans with AI Program.<\/p>\n Mariana Popescu<\/a> joins the\u00a0Department of Architecture as an assistant professor. Popescu\u00a0is a computational architect and structural designer with a strong interest and experience in innovative ways of approaching the fabrication process and use of materials in construction.\u00a0Her area of expertise is computational and parametric design, with a focus on digital fabrication and sustainable design. Her extensive involvement in projects related to promoting sustainability has led to a multilateral development of skills, which combine the fields of architecture, engineering, computational design, and digital fabrication.\u00a0Popescu earned her doctorate at ETH Zurich. She was\u00a0named a \u201cPioneer\u201d<\/a> on the MIT Technology Review global list of \u201c35 innovators under 35\u201d in 2019.<\/p>\n