Research Interests:

• Architecture

• Design computation

• Design problem solving and decision making

• Parametric and configurable modeling

• Requirements management

• Visual analytics

• Software design and development

• Academic apprenticeship in teaching

Detailed Research and Teaching Interests:

Design

• Designing with complex requirements.
• Managing design information by means of intelligent digital-objects.

Design Cognition

• Exploring models for and methodological approaches to the problem solving aspects of design cognition.
• Exploring the cognitive activities occurring during design problem specification and their evolution throughout the design.
• Exploring the role of symbolic design representation and manipulation media in design-problem transformation from ill- to well-defined states.

Computational Design

• Using design cognition models to develop interactive computational-design system architectures and algorithms for complex design domains.
• Modeling polymorphic design requirement specifications and their transformations.
• Employing user-centered human-computer interaction paradigms in generative computational design tools.
• Designing interactive systems to build knowledge repositories for design computation.
• Measuring the usability of interactive and generative computational design systems.

Teaching

• Improving and implementing `Academic Apprenticeship Model' in design teaching
• Adapting active and cooperative learning methods with digital-instruction approach
• Using innovative software engineering methods and strategic knowledge in teaching design computation and conducting design research

Education:

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA.
Ph.D. in Computational Design, December 2003

Dissertation Topic: Interactive Computational Support for Modeling and Generating Design Requirements.
Committee: Ulrich Flemming, Ph.D., Ömer Akin, Ph.D., John R. Hayes, Ph.D.

Clemson University, Clemson, SC.
Master of Construction Science and Management, May 1996

Thesis Topic: Three-dimensional computational modeling and integration as an alternative communication medium between different A/E/C disciplines.

Mimar Sinan University, Istanbul, Turkey.
Master of Architecture, November 1993
Completed course work.

Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey.

Bachelor of Architecture, June 1991

Final Project: A modern art center in downtown Ankara. Honor student.

Other Website: www.sfu.ca/~herhan