Student Carlos Sandoval Olascoaga
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Carlos Sandoval Olascoaga is a PhD student in the Design and Computation Group, specializing in computational design and urban computing. He is a researcher at the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at MIT. Previously, he was a research scientist at UC Berkeley, investigating the convergence of design, spatial information, data science, and social sciences. In the past five years, Carlos has been a Co-Instructor at MIT, a Lecturer at UC Berkeley and a Visiting Professor at UNAM, and has taught computational design seminars and workshops in the United States, Italy, China and Mexico, in venues such as ACADIA and Smartgeometry. His work has been supported by numerous fellowships, more recently by the MIT Presidential Fellowship, the IDEA Studio Fellowship at Autodesk, the National Council of Science and Technology, and the Jumex Foundation for Contemporary Arts. Carlos' research and writings have been published widely in architecture, design and computation, and HCI journals and conference proceedings.
Carlos’ latest research examines the history of computing, its development and application in urban planning tools, and their utilization as artifacts for empirical legitimization of the scientific planning practices during 1960’s. His current work involves the development of alternative urban computing methodologies that are non-deterministic, open-ended, and attempt to represent cities as problems of organized complexity.
Carlos holds a SMArchS in Computation from MIT, where he was awarded the Arthur Rotch Special Prize for the highest academic achievement, excellence in thesis, and contributions to more than one field, a Master of Architecture from UC Berkeley, and a Bachelor of Architecture with distinction from UNAM in Mexico.
2016 SMArchS Thesis: Painting with Data: From a Computational History of Urban Models to an Alternative Urban Computing
Areas of Interest
Art and Technology, Civic Participation, Computation, Theory of Architecture, Theory of Urbanism, Visualization
Education
2016 - Present
PhD in Design and Computation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2014 - 2016
SMArchS in Computation, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2011 - 2012
M.Arch, UC Berkeley 2005 - 2010
B.Arch, UNAM Academic Experience
2016 -
Co-Instructor, DUSP, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015 - Present
Research Assistant, Civic Data Design Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015 -
Teaching Assistant, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015 - 2015
Research Scientist, Project Manager, UC Berkeley 2015 - 2015
Research Assistant, Center for Advanced Urbanism, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2013 - 2014
Research Fellow, Project Manager, Autodesk IDEA Studio 2012 - 2014
Research Scientist, UC Berkeley 2014 - 2014
Visiting Professor, National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM 2014 - 2014
Cluster Leader, Smartgeometry Conference 2014 - 2014
Consultant / Technical Instructor, Data Lab, UC Berkeley 2013 - 2013
Lecturer, UC Berkeley 2012 - 2012
Teaching Assistant, UC Berkeley 2011 - 2011
Lecturer, National Autonomous University of Mexico, UNAM Awards
2016 - 2021
MIT Presidential Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2016 - 2021
MIT Department of Architecture PhD Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2016 -
Arthur Rotch Special Prize, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015 -
ACADIA Student Scholarship, ACADIA 2015 -
MIT Avalon Traveling Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2015 - 2016
Jumex Foundation for Contemporary Arts Fellowship, Jumex Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2014 -
ACADIA Student Scholarship, ACADIA 2014 -
MIT Avalon Traveling Fellowship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2014 - 2016
MIT Department of Architecture Graduate Fellowship + Tuition Scholarship, Massachusetts Institute of Technology 2014 - 2016
CONACYT Graduate Fellowship, CONACYT 2014 - 2015
Jumex Foundation for Contemporary Arts Fellowship, Jumex Foundation for Contemporary Arts 2013 -
Autodesk IDEA Studio Grant, Autodesk 2013 -
See-Through Maps: Maps That Lay Their Bare Point of View: Notable Map, UC Berkeley 2012 -
Center for Canadian Studies Research Travel Grant, UC Berkeley 2012 -
Transiting Cities Design Competition: Honorable Mention, RMIT 2012 -
ULI Urban Design Competition: Finalist, Urban Land Institute 2011 -
UNAM Academic Excellence Award, UNAM 2011 -
Undergraduate Thesis Honorable Mention, UNAM 2011 - 2012
CONACYT Fellowship, CONACYT 2011 - 2012
SEP Fellowship, SEP