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Spring/Summer 2025

1

Design Research Week

2

Showcases & Exhibits

3

CfD Conversations

3

Meet & Greets

20

Lectures

3

Tour Groups

6

Workshops

3

Scout Labs Events

8

Conferences Attended

2

Curated & Organized Exhibits

9

Conference Presentations

4

Keynotes, Panels & Podcasts

2

Journal Publications

1

Book Chapter

11

Articles

2

Honors & Grants

50+ Events Hosted

Design Research Week

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Design Research Week returned in 2025 to showcase design-led research projects and initiatives. Keynotes, panels, workshops, exhibitions and industry award ceremonies connected Northeastern’s research community with external stakeholders, partners and guests across the design ecosystem in the Boston area and beyond. Learn more and view the recap on the website.

CfD Conversations

48 One-Off Activities & Events

11 Class Activities, Presentations, Critiques & Reviews

6 Workshops & Brainstorming Sessions

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20 Seminars & Lectures

2 Showcases & Exhibitions

3 Meet & Greets

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3 Tour Groups

3 Scout Labs Sessions

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25+ Research Publications

Conferences Attended

Conference Presentations

CHI 2025

  • From Locked Rooms to Open Minds: Escape Room Best Practices to Enhance Reflection in Extended Reality Learning Environments
    Erica Kleinman, Rana Jahani, Eileen McGivney, Mehmet Kosa, Seth Cooper, Casper Harteveld
    Read the paper here.

  • Crafting Champions: An Observation Study of Esports Coaching Processes
    Hanbyeol Lee, Erica Kleinman, Namsub Kim, Sangbeom Park, Casper Harteveld, Byungjoo Lee
    Read the paper here.

  • CT4ALL: Towards Putting Teachers in the Loop to Advance Automated Computational Thinking Metric Assessments in Game-Based Learning
    Giovanni Troiano, Michael Cassidy, Daniel Escobar Morales, Guillermo Pons, Amir Abdollahi, Gregorio Robles, Gillian Puttick, Casper Harteveld
    Read the paper here.
    This paper won honorable mention.

  • Bird: A Point Cursor for Virtual Immersive Environments
    Aubrey Simonson, Dana Gretton, Casper Harteveld
    Read the paper here.

  • There's Your Problem: Spatial Localization of Design Flaws in Virtual Reality Training Simulations
    Aubrey Simonson, Mehmet Kosa, Mohsen Moghaddam, Kemi Jona, Casper Harteveld
    Read the paper here.

 

ICPP 7

  • Building a Networked Repository of Public Sector Design in Latin America
    Sofia Bosch Gomez, Tina Rosado, Diana Pamela Villa Alvarez, Federico Vaz
    Read the paper here.

ICED25

  • Probabilistic Methods for Evaluating Human and LLMs During Design Problem-Solving
    Ryan Bruggeman, Estefania Ciliotta Chehade, Tucker Marion, Paolo Ciuccarelli

    Read the abstract here.

  • Evaluating AI Generated Solutions to Ill-structured Design Problems
    Ryan Bruggeman
    View the workshop here.​

IDETC-CIE 2025

  • From Paradox to Measurement in Design Problem-Solving
    Ryan Bruggeman, Paolo Ciuccarelli, Tucker Marion
    This paper won a top design theory and methodology paper award.

2 Curated & Organized Exhibitions

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A-Un

Created by teams from Lexus, Bascule Inc. and Northeastern University

CfD Founding Director Paolo Ciuccarelli and student researchers Chloe Prock, Jasmine Yiming Sun and Elizabeth McCaffrey worked with Lexus on an exhibit, entitled A-Un, for Milan Design Week. The interactive, data-driven exhibit connects cars with people to pioneer new realms of mobility. The installation received two Fuorisalone Awards: second place overall for the audience award, as well as Design Schools Special Mention.

Learn more about the exhibit here.

Constructing la Biennale

Created by teams from the Department of Art and Design at Politecnico di Torino, the Barabasi Lab and the Center for Design

Constructing la Biennale is a 30-meter data visualization installation of the full history of the Venice Biennale Architettura since 1974, covering the scaffolding around the Central Pavilion while it undergoes renovations. The installation is a collaboration between members of the Department of Architecture and Design at Politecnico di Torino, the Barabasi Lab and the Center for Design. CfD Founding Director Paolo Ciuccarelli, affiliate member Todd Linkner and alumnus Matthew Blanco represented the Center for Design on this project. They created Curatorial Synapses, a visual diagram that unpacks the curatorial decision-making process. It maps the curatorial team and designers, with threads representing the selected applications and projects. This visualization captures the global and interdisciplinary complexity behind the exhibition.

Learn more about the exhibit here.

2 Journal Publications

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AI-against-design map: A systematic review of 20 years of AI-focused studies in design research

by Fabio Antonio Figoli, Ryan Bruggeman, Lucia Rampino,
Paolo Ciuccarelli

Design Studies

Volume 96

Read it here.

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The City of 700 Languages

Data visualization graphic by Pedro Cruz featured in the article.

National Geographic

July 2025 Issue

1 Book Chapter

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Amplified experience through temporal proximity

by Stephen Neely and Michael Arnold Mages

Chapter Two of Proximity in Design Research: People, Processes, Products, Philosophy.

Read it here.

Published by Routledge.

11 Articles

2 Keynotes & Panels

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The Humanity in the Data

Keynote with Paolo Ciuccarelli

TEDxFermo 2025

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From DataVis to DataArt

Panel with Paolo Ciuccarelli

Data | Art Symposium

2 Podcasts

Design As Podcast

Design As Visualization with Paolo Ciuccarelli and Dietmar Offenhuber

Listen here.

Pondering AI Podcast

The Shape of Synthetic Data with Dietmar Offenhuber

Listen here.

2 Honors & Grants

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Mellon Foundation Higher Learning Program Grant

Data Theatre for Civic Deliberation

Principal Investigator: Dani Snyder-Young
Co-Principal Investigators: Rahul Bhargava, Michael Arnold Mages, Jonathan Carr, Laura Perovich, Antonio Ocampo-Guzman, Moira Zellner and Angelique Motunrayo Folasade Akiya C-Dina

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Estefania Ciliotta received the 2025 CAMD Outstanding Staff Award

The Center for Design is part of Northeastern University's College of Arts, Media and Design.

180 Ryder Hall

Northeastern University

360 Huntington Ave

Boston, MA 02115

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