MIT unveils inaugural interdisciplinary Morningside Academy for Design fellows

The MIT Morningside Academy of Design has unveiled their inaugural cohort of fellows. The fourteen graduate students, currently enrolled in master's or doctoral programs across MIT, will become the first fellows for the new interdisciplinary center housed within the MIT School of Architecture and Planning following its creation last spring.

The 2022 Design Fellows, spanning business, architecture, city planning, and policy development, are Surbhi Agrawal, Jonathan Bessette, Justin Brazier, Alexander Crease, Ganit Goldstein, Kyle Gordon, Elijah Martin, Mariama N’Diaye, AJ Perez, Pedro Reynolds-Cuéllar, Francesca Riccio-Ackerman, Jana Saadi, Natha (Bam) Singhasaneh, and Jonathan Zong.

The cohort’s research projects will focus on a range of issues in the built environment, with many investigating the interface of design and sustainability. Specific research projects include deployable desalination and water treatment systems for humanitarian crises, computational design as applied to sustainable customized garments, and the use of recycled consumer plastics to 3D print low-cost housing.

“While design is viewed in many ways across the MIT community, these fellowships prioritize students whose education and research emphasize design with a focus on users who will benefit from or interface with their work,” the academy’s founding director John Ochsendorf explained.

The design fellows will each receive full tuition, health insurance, and a stipend for their research. They will also participate in a six-unit academic seminar each semester intended to “enrich and expand the work of each fellow, while building community around design across MIT.”

The MIT Morningside Academy fellows are the latest in a series of architecture-related grants and fellowships recently announced. Last week, visual artist and architect Amanda Williams was awarded a 2022 MacArthur Foundation Fellowship grant, while in September, the Urban Design Forum announced its 2022 class of Forefront Fellows.

In August, NOMA named the 20 architecture students participating in their 2022 Summer Foundation Fellowship, while in June, the Harvard GSD unveiled their 2023 Loeb Fellowship class.