CSALT Alumni
we are so grateful for your contributions to our research

Casey completed her Professional Master of Architecture in 2024 under the supervision of Professor Sheryl Boyle. Combined with her undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Alberta, and 4 years professional experience in manufacturing, Casey has been a valuable contributor to the Robotic Formwork research project supported through the Mitacs Accelerate Program and the Canadian Precast Prestressed Concrete Institute. She enjoyed working between the disciplines at CSALT and was a valuable contributor to our design-for-manufacture research on the application of robotics in the construction industry and in the creation of complex precast concrete formwork.

Ann-Catherine (AC) joined CSALT in Winter 2024 as a Co-Research Assistant during her MArch program. Under the supervision of Sheryl Boyle, she experimented with creating affordable 3D-printed housing heavily focused on carbon footprint reduction. In Fall 2024, she transitioned to a Research Assistant role under Lisa Moffitt, where she is currently developing a series of rammed earth models to explore site and building configurations, overall building forms, and sectional assemblies.

She holds BSc in Neuroscience from Bishop’s University and a MSc in Psychiatry from McGill University. Her perhaps unusual background in mental health research and community work in social housing continues to inform her projects, where human-scale goes beyond physical dimensions to incorporate emotional and social relations to space. She is particularly drawn towards regenerative materials and how materials and their processes connect to people situated in more-than-human worlds.

Olive joined CSALT in the winter of 2024 working alongside Ann-Catherine Lemonde on questions of materiality and topology optimization to reduce material for building structures in combination with a biogenic insulation wrapping. His hands-on experience in straw-bale construction helped the team conceptualize innovative modular and 3D printed housing typologies.

Aram completed her BAS degree with a major in Conservation & Sustainability. She was a CSALT Research Assistant in 2023/24 during her fourth year of BAS studies after finishing her co-op year. Her passion for nuanced sustainable design and construction methods fuelled her interest in connections between digital design and fabrication. She excelled working with robotics in the lab and participated in many lab activities including our #ROB_ARCH2024 conference workshop in Toronto (Collaboration Between Design and Automated Fabrication: Design for Manufacturing and Assembly Workflows in Architecture with ABB Industrial Robots Using COMPAS_RRC). Together with Novaya Politra, Aram will go down as the first Carleton student to build a Kosmic installation with robots! Aram says: “Architecture is a great passion of mine in which life, time, culture, technology, and science come together to create a unique piece of spatial and tangible art.” Aram is currently employed as an Intern Architect at an emerging firm in Montreal. She plans to pursue a master’s degree in architecture and hopes to practice in the emerging field of Space Architecture afterwards.

Novaya became a part of the team during her undergrad in Fall 2023. As a researcher, she was constantly experimenting and pursuing experience that broadened her understanding of the vastly interdisciplinary field of architecture and fabrication. Novaya brought to the team her previous knowledge on wood prefabrication construction, residential design, and landscape architecture from her time working in Toronto. For Novaya, her work at CSALT meant exploring the intersection of the analog craft and digital design, and together with Aram Payroveolia, she will go down as being the first to create a Kosmic installation with robots! Novaya is probably hiking in the Pyrenees somewhere on her break year.

Sama was a research assistant in 2023/24 during her final year in BAS. With a background in fine arts, she enjoys integrating and exploring with different materials and was instrumental in managing the CSALT social media and collections activities. She is particularly intruiged by clay explorations and the malleability and flexibility of the material. In her free time she enjoys painting, reading, cooking, and biking.

Casey worked at CSALT in 2023/24 as a lab assistant during her 2nd year BAS in the design stream.  She is interested in the exploration of fabrication techniques and enjoys learning through hands-on experience. With a growing background in architectural technology, Casey aspires to continue exploring all facets of design, as she believes that each discipline holds valuable lessons to be learned. 

Meaghan worked at CSALT in the 2022/23 academic year. Funded by the Concrete Studio program through the Canadian Precast Prestressed Concrete Institute, she was a major contributor to the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery exhibition piece by the CSALT collaborative which focused on 3D printed architectural ceramics. Research and development from this project has informed future trajectories in topology optimization (using the Rhino plug-in tOpos) for concrete printed walls. Meaghan has just completed a one-year internship at Luce et Studio in San Diego California after completing her B.A.S., and she remains in touch with CSALT, sharing her experiences with the team. Her work experience in the public and private sector combined with her research experience in retrofit solutions for Design for Manufacturing and Assembly (DfMA) at McGill University and at Carleton provide a unique position for her as she enters practice at the intersection of analog and digital craft; looking at the functional applications of emerging technologies as well as the sensory quality of material properties.

Ju worked at CSALT in the 2022/23 year while working on her MArch thesis under the supervision of Professor Boyle. Her work on the sensorial qualities of craft processes and the relationship between making, feeling and thinking culminated in an extra-ordinary thesis and an exemplary contribution to CSALT's collaborative project for the Canadian Clay & Glass Gallery exhibition entitled Robotic Clay displayed at the Canadian Clay and Glass Gallery in 2023. Ju explored natural materials such as wild clay and plant fibres in her poetic thesis work. Her intuitive research processes were guided by her hands-on knowledge working with physical materials and digital design combined with her professional experience as a pharmacist.