Congrats to CfD core faculty member Michael Arnold Mages on the publication of his new book, “Somaesthetic Design!” 📖👏
This book, co-written with Stephen Neely of @cmumusic , focuses on the experiencing body as a key source of design knowledge. It draws from embodied practices and performance traditions to give designers a shared vocabulary and framework for understanding, crafting and evaluating lived experience as it is felt and sustained in time.
"Somaesthetic Design" is available in print or open access at the link in our bio. Add it to your summer reading list!
The Data Sonification Awards have announced the 2025-2026 winners! 🏆
Congratulations to CfD affiliate member Rahul Bhargava for winning in the Arts category with his project, “Data Drums: A Rhythmic Call to Action,” in collaboration with Marcus Santos and Lily Gaba. View the full list of this year’s winners at the link in our bio.
The Data Sonification Awards initiative is a collaboration between the Data Sonification Archive, co-founded and co-curated by CfD Founding Director Paolo Ciuccarelli and affiliate member Sara Lenzi, and Duncan Geere from Loud Numbers. The awards recognize and celebrate the remarkable work of researchers and practitioners while promoting best practices across the field.
The Participatory Budgeting Deliberative Community Conversations research team wrote a chapter in the upcoming book, “Increasing Participatory Engagement through Technology and Design: New Approaches for Participation,” edited by Mari Suoheimo, Jonna Häkkilä and Ravi Mahamuni. Today, Mari presented the book during the Service Design Working Group session at the @cumulusassociation conference in Athens, Greece. Our research team was invited to participate in the presentation by sharing details about their book chapter.
Thank you for the opportunity, Mari! Keep an eye out for more information about this book, coming in July.
Congrats to the team: Maria Fernanda Ramirez, Estefania Ciliotta, Angelique C-Dina, Michael Arnold Mages
Congrats, grad! 🎓🎉 Ryan Bruggeman, a CfD-sponsored PhD candidate, has successfully defended his dissertation and graduated. His dissertation is entitled, “A Computational Cognitive Theory of Reasoning for Design Problem-Solving,” and he was advised by CfD Founding Director Paolo Ciuccarelli and affiliate member Tucker Marion.
Ryan studied human design problem-solving, developed a theory that captured the observed behavior and used the theory to develop a deep learning architecture to solve design problems. He published several papers and presented at numerous conferences during the duration of his program.
We are so proud of Ryan’s dedication and accomplishments, and his presence in the CfD will be sorely missed! We wish him the best of luck in the next chapter.
“Space [Between]” is an exhibition designed by graduate students from the Experience Design and @iddvboston programs in @northeasterncamd . It is on display now through April 30 in the Center for Design! Visit our space in Ryder Hall to explore projects in topics such as hiking safety, optical illusions, Alzheimer’s care, tactile data, dog leash design and more.
Earth Day is the perfect day to share an update on our Students-in-Residence project that tackles pollution in Boston’s Muddy River! 🌎♻️ Our student researchers recently conducted an in-class feedback session for their prototype. They shared their concept, process and early insights with the class and received helpful feedback in return. Keep up the great work, team! 👏
As each semester comes to a close, the Center for Design is always bustling with activity! Our space plays host to a plethora of final reviews, juries, presentations and showcases. 🤩 Finish strong, Huskies!
That’s a wrap on the Spring 2026 CfD Conversations Series! 🎬 Yesterday’s panel was a fascinating dive into the intersection of theatre, data and public policy. We thank our panelists from the Data Theatre Collaborative for leading the conversation, and we look forward to updates on their work this summer! And stay tuned for the announcement of our Fall event lineup. 🔜
If you missed this event or want to revisit the discussion, the recording is on our YouTube channel, linked in our bio.
Students in the @northeasterncamd Honors in the Discipline program gave their presentations last week in the Center for Design! These students completed studies and projects in a range of topics from music and film production to consumerism. Please join us in congratulating them on their hard work and achievements! 👏
The Public Design Collective, previously supported by the Center for Design’s Bridges Fellowship, has published the first phase of their research! 🙌
They conducted a systematic literature review on public design in Latin America, and the data is available to explore now. 🔍 The team will also present a paper at DRS 2026, entitled “Sustained Memory for Public Design in Latin America,” which includes a first set of results from the literature review. 📚 Still to come is the creation of a collective map of public design practitioners, projects and institutions across Latin America. 🗺️
Learn more about the Public Design Collective, explore the literature review repository and view their publications on their website, linked in our bio. Also linked in our bio is the @northeasternglobalnews article about their work.
📸 Photo by Alyssa Stone/Northeastern University
Our final CfD Conversation of the spring semester is next Tuesday, April 14! Join Rahul Bhargava, Jonathan Carr, Michael Arnold Mages, Dani Snyder-Young and Moira Zellner as they examine how Civic Data Theatre bridges the gap between quantitative government data and lived community experience. Register to attend this hybrid event at the link in our bio.
This event is co-sponsored by @nu_cfa .
Image credit: Amelia Cordischi
The New Civic Terrains speaker series from the Digital Civics Initiative wraps up next week with Cindy Lin from the School of Interactive Computing at @georgiatech . Join us for her lecture, “‘Sustainability is Money’: The Making of Tropical Data Centers in Southeast Asia,” on Wednesday, April 8, at 2:00 p.m. in the Center for Design. Learn more and register at the link in our bio.
This lecture is co-sponsored by @nu_globalasia .
![“Space [Between]” is an exhibition designed by graduate students from the Experience Design and @iddvboston programs in @northeasterncamd. It is on display now through April 30 in the Center for Design! Visit our space in Ryder Hall to explore projects in topics such as hiking safety, optical illusions, Alzheimer’s care, tactile data, dog leash design and more.](https://sp1.picnob.com/p/pt_6739172259362667383440_0_c860adfee797594b7a170f1b5d408807.jpg?o=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&h=ebfc260dca320668f963dc81c9208b21)
