Niraj Kamal Karunanidhi

Graduate Research Assistant
MS Computer Science
School of Interactive Computing
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology

2024 – 2025

Niraj Kamal Karunanidhi joined SCL as a graduate student in the MS in Computer Science at Georgia Tech. Previously, he was a Research Software Engineer at Mercedes-Benz R&D, focusing on the development of ADAS and self-driving features, in-house large language models and novel patents in the field. He has delivered keynote speeches and lectures on “Paradigms of Autonomous Driving” and “Scenario Generation” at IIT Roorkee and at Mercedes. He spearheaded the Product Development and Design Direction of one of the largest cross-border student accommodation platforms - UniAcco. He was also a Product Manager at Snaptrude, which is revolutionizing AEC industry through its collaborative in-browser parametric BIM modelling suite. He studied architecture at IIT Roorkee and TU Dresden, where he was the Principal Investigator for Project ADAM, focusing on programmable structures. His architectural experience includes working with Ruairi O’Brien Architects in Dresden, Germany and with Ar. Suhasini Ayer. Notably, his work with Ar. Suhasini, Humanscapes, received the Green Solutions Award at the United Nations COP26 Climate Conference in Glasgow.

Russell Newton, BS.CS, MS.CS

Graduate Research Assistant
MS Architecture Program
School of Architecture
College of Design
Georgia Institute of Technology

2024 - 2025

Russell Newton joined SCL initially as an MS student in the School of Interactive Computing and subsequently as an MS student in the School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His work as a research assistant in the Shape Computation Lab was centered around the continuous improvement and evolution of Shape Machine, the lab’s flagship shape grammar interpreter. These efforts included the creation and optimization of algorithms involved in shape embedding, and the improvement and implementation of features within Shape Machine. Russell holds a BSCS, an MSCS and an MS Arch from the Georgia Institute of Technology.

Akshin Vemana, BS.CS

Graduate Research Assistant
MS Computer Science
School of Interactive Computing
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology

2023 – 2024

Akshin Vemana joined SCL aas a graduate Computer Science student at Georgia Tech with an extensive background in data science and software development built up in interest-based projects spanning topics from education to politics, with tools like XGBoost, scikit-learn, React, Django, and Firebase and a broader interest in AI, VR, and the intersection between the two areas. Akshin’s responsibilities in the Shape Computation Lab focused on the reworking of the original Shape Machine code into an object-oriented framework.

Yeon Tae Chung, BS.CS

Research Assistant
MS Computer Science
School of Interactive Computing
College of Computing
Georgia Institute of Technology

2021- 2023

Yeon Tae Chung joined SCL as a graduate Computer Science student at Georgia Tech with an extensive background in software development, computer graphics, computational geometry and more broadly, the intersection of machine vision and human conceptual understanding. Yeon Tae explored the possibility of extending Shape Machine’s shape embedding algorithms for lines and arcs to a more general classes of geometrical curves in the 2D Euclidean space.

Timothy Min, MSMT

Graduate Research Assistant
MS Music Technology Program
School of Music
College of Design
Georgia Institute of Technology

2021–2022

Timothy Min joined SCL as a graduate student in Music Technology at Georgia Tech. His extensive background included Biological/Neurological responses to stimuli, Psychology and Perception of the stimuli, Human Computer Interaction (HCI), Human Subjects Research, IRB, and HCI techniques. Languages and environments include Unity, Wwise, VR, AR, Python, C#, MaxMSP, Rhino, and Shape Machine. Timothy brought his GT Create-X background to help spearheading the Shape Machine Discovery process.

Myrto Katsavou Dipl.Arch

Graduate Research Assistant
MS.Arch Architecture Program
School of Architecture
College of Design
Georgia Institute of Technology

2022

Myrto Katsavou joined SCL as a graduate student in the School of Architecture at Georgia Tech pursuing a post-professional MS.Arch in the field of Design Computation. Myrto brought an extensive background in architecture design and urban design supported by state-of-the art digital technologies. Her thesis work focused on user-defined open-source systems of modular 3D printed components showcasing a strong social agenda and a firm grounding in new radical technologies. Myrto brought her web design and digital modeling skills to create, edit, manage, and archive modeling work in Shape Machine.

Nunggu Ahn, M.Arch

Graduate Research Assistant
MS.Arch Architecture Program
School of Architecture
College of Design
Georgia Institute of Technology

2019

Nunggu joined SCL during his MS in Design Computation at the School of Architecture at the Georgia Institute of Technology. His research focused on robotics and digital manufacturing continuing prior professional work at DongYang Structural Engineers Co. ltd as structural a BIM engineer at the Republic of Korea. During his time at SCL Nungghu was the instructor for the Digital Media course at the School of Architecture. Nunggu holds an MArch from the Ohio State University.

Quentin Pegram, BS.Arch

Graduate Research Assistant
M.Arch Architecture Program
School of Architecture
College of Design
Georgia Institute of Technology

2015–2016

Quentin Pegram joined SCL as a Master Architecture student in the School of Architecture at Georgia Institute of Technology. In the SLC, he was involved in preparation and design of a comprehensive book on courthouse design in the U.S. His professional background included working for two years at The Zenner Group, a small commercial architecture firm in Atlanta working on dozens of medium scale commercial buildings, from schematics through construction.