We are a team of creative and multidisciplinary researchers interested in tackling challenges in environmental impacts of the built environment.
Faculty
Prof. Demi Fang
Principal Investigator
Prof. Demi Fang (pronounced DEE-mee FAHNG) is Assistant Professor at Northeastern University’s School of Architecture at the College of Arts, Media and Design (CAMD). She holds a joint appointment with Civil & Environmental Engineering at the College of Engineering (COE) and joined Northeastern in 2024.
Research assistants
Justin Haime
B.S. Artificial Intelligence and Business Administration ’27
Justin appreciates how widely data science can be used and how much it can help solve problems in almost any field. He is especially interested in machine learning and computer vision and enjoys finding ways to make sense of messy visual data. Justin is highly motivated by the idea of using these tools on problems that have a real impact on the world around us. At SFL this summer, Justin is working on using computer vision and uncertainty analysis to enhance building stock modeling.
Marcella Hesser
B.S. Arch. ’27, Minor in Architectural Engineering and Urban Landscape Studies
Marcella is a fifth-year architecture student with a particular interest in policy and interdisciplinary design. As a co-op at Steven Winter Associates on their Sustainable Building Services Team, she applies her interest in building performance and climate-responsive design to real-world projects. Her prior experience includes researching building codes and policies across Chicago and Pittsburgh with the Sweet Water Foundation, designing Net-Zero projects as a co-lead for Solar Decathlon, and conducting building envelope assessments at Gale Associates. Marcella is working on LENS to investigate data-stakeholder interfaces for low-carbon design.
Roman Shipley
B.S. Arch. ’28, Minor in Civil Engineering
Roman is an architecture student passionate about creating sustainable and historically conscious designs. He applies his minor in civil engineering to make informed design decisions that reduce a building’s embodied carbon and environmental impact from concept to reality. He is driven by a desire to bridge the gap between architectural theory and practical, sustainable building solutions. At SFL, Roman has researched the relationship between modern strategies for building reuse and historic traditions of preservation. In June 2026, he presented case study findings on office-to-residential conversions at the Engineering Mechanics Institute Conference in CU Boulder. This summer, Roman is interning at CORA Structural in Boston while working part-time for SFL, bridging research approaches for early-stage low-carbon structural design with practice.
Lillian Smeraldo
M.Arch. 3-year ’27, concentration in Sustainable Urban Environments
Lilly is a graduate architecture student at Northeastern University who is passionate about sustainable design and resilient spaces. With her concentration in Sustainable Urban Environments, she strives to combine historical preservation and adaptive reuse with community-centered initiatives that create positive impacts for decades to come. This summer, Lilly is working as an Energy & Sustainability Intern at West Work while part-time on LENS, bringing together the practice of energy modeling and data analysis with research initiatives in energy and material use on a regional scale.
Coming soon
Undergraduate/master’s student
See our Join / Collaborate page for latest on how to join our team as an undergraduate student.
PhD students
Coming soon
PhD student
See our Join / Collaborate page for latest on how to join our team as a PhD student.
Former team members
Jonathan Melchiorre Postdoctoral Research Associate -> Postdoctoral Researcher at Princeton University
Kwan To Ryan Chan B.S. Arch. ’26, DINE Minor -> Harvard University Graduate School of Design M.Arch.
Tanvi Agarwal B.S. Computer Science ’28, Concentration in Artificial Intelligence
Anna Sophia Bakshi B.S.C.E. Arch. Studies ’28
Raphael Semeria B.S.C.E. Arch. Studies ’28
Lang (Samuel) Shao B.S. Data Science and Mathematics ’26
About the degree programs of student researchers
PhD IDM: PhD in Interdisciplinary Design and Media (College of Arts, Media and Design)
M.Arch.: Master of Architecture (College of Arts, Media and Design), a NAAB-accredited degree offered at the 1-, 2-, and 3-year tracks. Students on the 2- and 3-year tracks may choose from a number of interdisciplinary concentrations
Co-op: a full-time student researcher under Northeastern University’s signature experiential learning model
B.S. Arch.: Bachelor’s of Science in Architecture (School of Architecture; College of Arts, Media and Design)
B.S.C.E. Arch. Studies: Bachelor’s of Science in Civil Engineering and Architectural Studies (Civil & Environmental Engineering; College of Engineering), a combined undergraduate major for architecture and civil engineering
B.S. Computer Science: Bachelor’s of Science in Computer Science (Khoury College of Computer Science)
B.S. Artificial Intelligence and Business Administration: Bachelor’s of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Business Administration (Khoury College of Computer Science; D’Amore-McKim School of Business), a combined undergraduate major for machine learning and management theory. (Formerly called B.S. Data Science and Business Administration)
B.S. Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics: Bachelor’s of Science in Artificial Intelligence and Mathematics (Khoury College of Computer Science; College of Science), a combined undergraduate major for mathematical foundations in data science. (Formerly called B.S. Data Science and Mathematics)
Minor in Architectural Engineering (Civil & Environmental Engineering; College of Engineering)
Minor in Civil Engineering (Civil & Environmental Engineering; College of Engineering)
Minor in Urban Landscape Studies (College of Arts, Media and Design)
DINE Minor: Minor in Design and Innovation Engineering (College of Engineering), a minor for non-engineering majors
Structural Futures Lab 