MDE Alumni Inaugural Annual Newsletter: January 2020
Dear MDE Alumni,
Greetings from Cambridge! As the fourth year of the program progresses, it is a pleasure to have two cohorts of graduates out in the world. We have enjoyed hearing about your new careers and activities, and as always, we wish to keep you informed with news from the program side as well. To that end, say hello to our inaugural alumni newsletter. The
theme matches the upcoming MDE publication, Mobility (academic year ’18-’19), which includes illustration/comic elements. Please see below for further updates.
We hope to see you all soon!
With warm regards,
Martin Bechthold DDes ’01 Fawwaz Habbal
Program and Student News
- The program launched and awarded its first round of MDE Fellowships in summer 2019. These fellowships are awarded to second-year students, both domestic and international, and are based entirely on financial need.
- Several new instructors have joined familiar faces on the MDE instruction team (read more about them here).
- The studio team: Stephen Burks; Elizabeth Christoforetti MArch ’09; Luba Greenwood, Jock Herron MDes ’06, DDes ’11; Julia C. Lee; Kwanyong Seo; and Andrew Witt MArch ’07, MDes ’02.
- Independent Design Engineering Project (IDEP team): Martin Bechthold DDes ’01, Luba Greenwood, and Woodward Yang.
- Frameworks: Woodward Yang
- The program is working on launching several ventures that have been in the works for some time, including an executive education program. As these efforts come together, keep an eye out for updates.
- Read Health Systems, the publication from Collaborative Design Engineering Studio I/II 2017-2018.
- The academic year ’19-’20 theme is waste, which we kicked off with a field trip to Save That Stuff.
May 12 – RSVP for IDEP Review and Reception
We hope to see everyone for the final IDEP review and end-of-year reception on May 12. We promise good conversation and awesome projects.
Connect with MDE
- Join the official MDE LinkedIn Group to see career info from current students and other alumni.
- Consider indicating your availability as a mentor for current students through the Alumni Directory.
Alumni News
- This past April, Autodesk hosted the SERT Council Event in San Francisco, which introduced MDE to a broader audience of GSD and SEAS alumni. Special thanks to Zeerak Ahmed MDE ’18, Neeti Nayak MDE ’18, and Chao Gu MDE ’18 for participating in the event.
- This November, the GSD hosted the Dean’s Leadership Council in NYC. Karen Su MDE ’18 presented for MDE.
- We are thrilled to see new ventures launched by MDE alumni, including artnext by Julian Siegelmann MDE ’19 and Naya by Vivek Hv MDE ’19 and Saad Rajan MDE ’19. From the 2018 cohort, Jeremy Burke MDE ’18 and Ramon Gras MDE ’18 recently released The Atlas of Innovation Districts, and Michael Raspuzzi MDE ’18 continues to move forward with Culinary AI Labs.
Did We Miss Something?
Email us! Shoot an email to [email protected] if you have news for the MDE website or would like to see a specific topic addressed in our next newsletter.
