So I am a little late on starting this blog...but better late than never...right? Well, lets start from the beginning then. A brief background of myself: I was born in Patterson New Jersey and grew up in Rockaway NJ for the first 11 years of my life. From there my family moved to Erie, PA for a couple years and finally to Dayton, OH where they remain. All this moving is due in part to the tumultuous job of machine tool sales which kept my dad on his feet. From Dayton, the obvious choice for studying architecture was the University of Cincinnati due to its stellar reputation in the professional realm and because its relative proximity to the family (aka.. source of funding). School in the Nati proved to be a great experience but unfortunately only partially filled my desire for further learning. While in school I was given the option of changing my professional, accredited Bachelor's of Architecture into a 4+2 Masters Degree. Since we were going to be the guinea pigs for this new curriculum I, along with a number of close like minded friends opted to stick with the intended trajectory and get our graduate degrees elsewhere.
The two years after graduation were spent working for at a small but thought provoking firm in The Nati before i started to itch to get back into academia. Now here I am, the first (I think) of that group to attend graduate school (at least a design school).
Applying to graduate schools was a pain in the ass...but it proved to be more fruitful than expected. I applied to 5 schools...partly to make sure I actually got into one. I ended up getting accepted to all but 1.. so the final result was gratifying.
I ended up deciding to attend Stevens Institute of Technology - Product Architecture and Engineering Department (or PAE as we will now call it since it's the longest name in the school blog project). The school, located in Hoboken, NJ (yeah..i'm back in jersey)... birthplace of Frank Sinatra and Baseball, is a small private, well funded school, big into technology, engineering, and technology management. Attached are some pics of the campus.
view of campus overlooking Hudson River and Manhattan.
PAE, only a year old, is within the Engineering Department and thus benefits from its great facilities. The PAE studios, offices and lecture hall share the building and professors with DMI (Design and Manufacturing Institute) and its 5 million worth in advanced manufacturing equipment. Stevens invested $250,000 in a new digital media lab””a suite of PCs and Macs; design software such as CATIA, Maya, Rhino, and Solidworks; video editing and digital imaging software; 3D scanners and large format color plotters.
The graduate program integrates the study of Architecture, Engineering and Industrial Design, which takes advantage of Stevens' rich history of research and innovation. The program explores intense and creative interdisciplinary collaboration under the umbrella of the production environment and set within the engineering institution. The programs goals are:
The interdisciplinary study of Industrial Design, Engineering and Architecture with nascent production methodologies and emerging materials.
The exploration of expressive form and integrated functional capabilities.
The immersion into advanced digital media and its burgeoning impact on design.
The performance of interactive physical and digital environments.
The end result of this two year process is to graduate with a Master of Engineering in Product Architecture. So far...the work produced by the first year class is clearly following this intended trajectory. I will try to include some images of the past years work (which will also soon be on a new website) in the upcoming posts.
Between the 2 classes now in the program it is comprised of a mix of architects, mechanical and computer engineers, product designers, computer scientists and mathematicians. The school has also developed some amazing affiliations within the various fields including: Gehry Technologies, Buro Happold, Front Design, ShoP Architects and Tri-Pyramid Engineering.
My curriculum this semester is:
Creative Form and the Digital Environment
Prof. John Nastasi (PAE Director)
This is pretty much our software class. Where we focus mostly on learning Digital Project/CATIA. The software is amazing but extremely complex and tough to learn.. I guess that is why those who know it get paid big bucks. This class rolls into design studio. Additionally, I think once we get a handle on the software we will start integrating other modeling software such as Solid Works w/Cosmos, and Rhino in with CATIA.
Modeling and Simulation
Prof. Kishore Pochiraju of DMI
In this course we study:
Ӣdifferentiate between static-dynamic, deterministic-stochastic system models,
Ӣconstruct system models for design evaluation purposes,
Ӣperform simulation-driven design optimization,
Ӣconstruct dynamic system models and predict their response to real- world inputs,
Ӣmodel systems and processes with stochastic variables, perform simulations and interpret simulation results
All the modeling and analysis in this class is done in Solid Works and Cosmos
Principles of Design Optimization
Prof. Greg Otto of Buro Happold
The intention of the course is to integrate the field of structural analysis into the domain of building, product, and component design and make it accessible to the designer within an evolutionary and innovative design process. Emphasis will be placed on both quantitative (analytical) and the qualitative (descriptive/graphical) methods that provide the student a means to understand basic structural and material behavior and apply this knowledge to the planning of primary structural systems within the context of their projects. Of particular focus will be the use of parametric methods of digital modeling, the preparation of and migration of said geometry into digital analysis and simulation tools, the use of structural analysis and simulation software, and the interpretation of and integration of the analytic work into the design process (establish a feedback loop).
Design Studio
Prof. John Nastasi w/ various other contributors.
Everyone in the studio had the option of doing an self chosen project or to be in groups lead by SHoP Architects. I am in the design group directed to help design the Fashion Institute of Technology addition in Manhattan. Other groups include the design of an stadium/bleacher system for Brown Unviersity, and also re-modeling the already built Camera Obscura project to be parametric and adaptable to different sites and cameras.
My group consists of 4 architects and a mechanical engineer.
All the courses are designed to work within the context of one's studio project. So the end result of this semester will be a highly performative, intelligent, and parametric design based upon real analytic results.
The program is not run like a typical architectural school. The schedule, largely influenced by the schedule of the Studio Directors (for me, SHoP), is more like that of an office...although we all pull our late nights...every night. But everything we do is done for a purpose directed to enhance our understanding of optimized object performance: structural, energy, environmental and the like.
We are all quickly getting the hang of DP/CATIA but a lot of time is spent on research and analysis... so no juicy images just yet. But I will post them shortly.
Allright.. time to get back to work.
I am looking forward to contributing to this blog over the next 2 years.
Feel free to contact me with any questions
Cheers!
engineering school building
Carnegie Hall - home of PAE Labs and DMI
Some images of our studio back in the day!
12 Comments
Very informative. Well done! But what the hell does "deterministic-stochastic" even mean? And do you still have to wear ties to studio? Because that would suck.
I think in order to understand what deterministic and stochastic means we need to be wearing ties. Mine are still pasked away somewhere so i am not sure yet.. as soon as i find my ties i'll let you know.
Dont trash the Nati!
Master of Engineering in Product Architecture.i never knew such a course even existed.very interesting!
first, how did you come to know about it and end up taking it? i remember you got into columbia, yale and the likes.. what mainly drove you to take this up and what do you intend to do with a Master of Engineering in Product Architecture and with a bachelors in architecture?
keep them comin. i look forward to know more about it through your blogs and pics. congrats and good luck!
first post = wow! yeah!
very informative blog...awesome program, very specific. I went back and read your thread about choosing a program, between UCLA and Stevens...sounds like you made a great decision. keep us posted
thanks peeps! i guess i will include my reasoning in the next post to clarify. But i discovered it in and Architectural Record article. What made it catch my eye is that my dad graduated from Stevens in 73' in Physics. That was not a factor in my decision to go there though.
I did get into those schools, UCLA, YALE, TU DELFT, Columbia. And they were all very impressive. But... i guess i have always leaned more on pragmatic side and allthough the work coming out of those schools was very interesting and aesthetically appealing i felt it fell short of having any real world application... and that the work and students being churned out of those schools seemed highly repetative and predictable.. It seemed you would end up doing your professors style of design.. DOnt get me wrong, i stil lhave a great amount of respect for those schools and hell...i may even want to go back to school at one of those someday but for now i felt that Stevens, while not as established and not as theoretically based provided more variety in design possibilities without the dogmatic baggage of architectural school. Plus being in its nascent state, i felt that i could have a better chance at influencing it and shaping it.. whcich as it turns out i am being given the opportunity to do.
FOr all those who went the aforementioned schools...this is only my point of view based upon my future goals... nor reflection upon you schools.. I am not trying to pick a fight.
As far as what i do with an Masters of Engineering in Product Architecture...i am not sure. The opportunities seems limitless. But we are being told that there is a good potential to make alot of money with the skillset we will acquire here. Assuming we dont work for some low paying architectural firm. But i am still stuck in an Architectural tunnel vision - so i may very well be wirking for alow paying architectural firm... as long as they are open to the issues we are studying here.
monkeyboy,
I hope I don't sound tacky asking this question but I'm sure lots of archinect users may want to know. Just how much "big bucks" does someone with knowlege of Digital Project/CATIA earn? Salaries for someone with a Master of Architecture start around $40,000. If any info was given about recent grads salaries from Stevens please share. Also, what types of jobs did the recent grads get?
arri, the first round of students have not graduated yet..they are in their second year. Now they could havebeen blowing smoke up our ass but some have pointed us in the direction of 6 figures. It highly depends on what type of firm you work for though.. The thing is that some companies pay big bucks to retain people with this knowledge because training is so expensive. Now i dont think you would get paid near that at lets say Gehry Tech...but i thik some other firms, mainly in the engineering field, may pay that much. Now, i have had some friends tell me.."get me a copy of CATIA so i can learn it and get paid big buck" .I say to that " sorry only legal copies here...and good luck learning it without formal training."
but remember, i cant say this with cetainty since our grads are not out yet... but i do know for a fact they are in high demand.
hey monkeyboy, what was your first degree, a BArch? [sorry i am a lazy ass who cant be bothered to look in the back post....]
I got BArch from the Unversity of CIncinnati
clarification:
I went and checked with the director about my salary assumptions.. while it is not impossible most likely just coming out of school wont get you 6 figures... but it will get you a hell of alot more than $40,000. SOrry for any undue excitement.
Additionally for those who may still be confused, PAE, allthough an engineering degree, is really a design program within the walls of an engineering school.
Erik, you are missed here at work. I'm glad to hear you are settled in and things are moving in a positive direction. be sure to drop all of us 'pragmatists' a line when you get a chance. -IofA
MB,
Thanks for answering all the questions! Keep it up!
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