Dina El-Zanfaly, an Assistant Professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Design, was recently named a Research Scholar by Google. The Research Scholar Program aims to support early-career professors who are pursuing research in fields relevant to Google and provides unrestricted gifts to support research at institutions around the world, and is focused on funding world-class research conducted by early-career professors. El-Zanfaly is one of six CMU professors to win the award this year and is the first representative to come from the College of Fine Arts.

On Monday, November 30th, an international exchange session took place between a group of second-year design students from the School of Design and the University of the Republic of Uruguay (UdelaR). This synchronous virtual session was organized as part of the Design Studies class “How People Work,” which provides an introduction to the practice and principles of human-centered design.

Research assistantships are incredible opportunities to engage with innovative projects on campus. As part of their Research Assistantship, Meric Dagli and Vikas Yadav, Master of Design (MDes) students from Carnegie Mellon University's School of Design, are working with Associate Professor of Art Ali Momeni to improve user experiences of a new virtual reality storytelling platform called SocialVR.