Researchers
Assistant Professor
Karla Saldana Ochoa
Karla Saldana Ochoa is a Tenured Track Assistant Professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Florida and a faculty affiliate at the AI2 Center, the Center of Latin American Studies, and FIBER. Karla is the director of SHARE Lab, a research group focused on developing projects that leverage the interaction between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and human intelligence applied to boost creativity in architectural design and create tools to analyze Big Data of Urban Phenomena. She collaborates on international projects in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Mexico, and Ecuador. Karla is an Ecuadorian architect and coder with a Master of Advanced Studies in Landscape Architecture and a Ph.D. in Technology in Architecture from ETH Zurich. Her Ph.D. researched the integration of Artificial and Human Intelligence for an accurate and agile response to natural disasters, leveraging a multimodal fusion approach for ML inference.
Visiting Scholar
Riccardo M. Villa
Riccardo M. Villa is visiting scholar at the SHARE lab, where he focuses on the intersection between architecture, ethics, and artificial intelligence. He is also a postdoc researcher for the Department for Architecture Theory and Philosophy of Technics at the Vienna University of Technology and a scientific assistant in the Chair of Digital Architectonics at ETH Zürich. He holds a Master’s degree in Architecture from the Polytechnic University of Milan, where he graduated with honors with a dissertation about the contemporary mutations of the architectural profession. In July 2022, he obtained his doctoral degree with distinction, with a dissertation on the role of images and architecture in the age of information. An architect by training, his professional background includes collaborations with several European practices, from small ateliers to large architectural companies.
Ph.D. Students
Ph.D. Student
Yasin Delavar
Yasin Delavar, a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida, is an experienced architectural designer with expertise in various design areas gained from both academic and professional settings.
Inspired by the famous quote, 'God is in the details,' he strives to be detail-oriented in his work and approach to design.
In his Ph.D. journey, Yasin is exploring the application of AI in the built environment. He is currently engaged in a research project to develop Digital Twin for the University of Florida campus.
Ph.D. Student
Wei-Chun Cheng
Wei-Chun Cheng is a Ph.D. student at the University of Florida. Cheng received MS degree in Design Theory, Pedagogy, and Architectural Technologies from SCI-Arc, where he graduated with distinction and received the “Hsinming Fung and Craig Hodgetts” Post Grad Thesis Prize. In addition, he holds an M.Arch Degree from Rhode Island School of Design, where he was awarded the AIA Norton Salk Scholarship for Design Excellence. He has extensive professional experience, having practiced in Tokyo, Taipei, and Cambridge (USA). In addition to practice, he has taught as an Adjunct faculty at the Boston Architectural College. His background in architectural design strongly informs his interests in design theory, machine vision, and platform design. His research investigates the role of representation in architectural design, exploring how technique, medium, and technology reform architectural design in the age of artificial intelligence.
Ph.D. Student
Mobina Nourani
Mobina Nourani is a Ph.D. student in the School of Architecture at the University of Florida, where she explores the intersection of artificial intelligence and computer engineering. Building upon her academic journey, Mobina earned a Master's degree in Artificial Intelligence-Computer Engineering from Iran in 2022. Her master's thesis, titled "Emotional Detection from Facial Images Using New Activation Function with Deep Learning," showcases her expertise in leveraging advanced technologies for emotion recognition. Prior to her master's studies, she completed a Bachelor's degree in Information Technology engineering in Iran in 2017. With a strong foundation in technology and a focus on cutting-edge research, Mobina is committed to pushing the boundaries of architectural applications through innovative technology solutions.
Research Assistants
Graduate Research Assistant
Baichuan Liu
Baichuan Liu is a graduate student in Architecture at the University of Florida. She is passionate about Asian critical regionalism and the evolution of form between traditional and modern architecture, reflecting regionalism and identity through inheriting traditional culture and combining modern architectural language, thereby evoking the memory of cities that have disappeared or are disappearing.
She is also interested in exploring the possibilities that AI can bring to the field of architecture, and believes that the combination of AI and architecture can stimulate people's imagination of space to a certain extent. She hopes to explore the anthropological and sociological core of the history of architecture and urban evolution through machine learning, and to realize a contemporary translation of traditional architectural language with the aid of AI.
Graduate Research Assistant
Joel Esposito
Joel Esposito is an M.Arch candidate at UF's CityLab program in Jacksonville, Florida. He's worked professionally for over eight years in residential design fulfilling a variety of roles including BIM workflow development, marketing and collateral design, visual programming, building science consulting, and advanced modeling in Autodesk Revit. In 2018, he built his own studio house—a process that stoked his interest in other AEC-related disciplines such as structural and MEP design, energy efficiency, and materials and methods. He recently completed the AIA HSW course "Building Science for Architects" by renowned building scientist Christine Williamson (@buildingsciencefightclub). His research will initially focus on architectural datasets for AI including data ethics, copyright law, qualitative analysis and the interface between parameter-driven design and AI-assisted workflows. His ancillary interests include computer science, typography and grid systems, vintage Japanese cinema, and design philosophy. In his spare time he enjoys cooking, studying macroeconomics, and spending time with his nieces and nephews.
Collaborators
Research collaborator
Carlos S. Saldana
Carlos S. Saldana, MD, is a chief fellow in the Division of Infectious Disease at Emory University School of Medicine. His work is centered around Hispanic and Latino communities with or at risk of acquiring HIV. Dr. Saldana leads the Metropolitan Atlanta Cluster Detection and Response Team and focuses primarily on HIV molecular cluster detection, collaborating with the Fulton County Board of Health and the Georgia Department of Public Health.With the SHARE Lab, Carlos is exploring the use of Artificial Intelligence to guide Public Health Interventions.
Staff
AI-powered Collaborator
Chad
Chad are our AI-powered mate. Chad are avatars responsible for the AI algorithms in SHARE Lab. They are resourceful and always ready to collaborate. Before joining SHARE LAb, Chad was known as Precision 5820 Tower.
