Dylan Wood, is a research associate and doctoral candidate at the Institute for Computation Design and Construction at the University of Stuttgart. At the ICD he leads the research in programmable materials and matter. His work focuses on developing intelligent design principles for smart shape-changing materials as a form of material robotics that can be applied in building systems, construction, and manufacturing. His current doctoral research is funded by the Swiss Commission for Technology and Innovation and the Getty Foundation’s GettyLab.

He holds a ITECH, MSc. with distinction from the University of Stuttgart, and a B.Arch, magna cum laude from the University of Southern California School of Architecture. Professionally he has worked as a designer and computation and fabrication specialist at Barkow Leibinger Architects in Berlin and DOSU Studio Architects in Los Angeles, CA.

Achim Menges is a registered architect and professor at the University of Stuttgart where he is the founding director of the Institute for Computational Design. Currently he also is Visiting Professor in Architecture at Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design and Visiting Professor of the Emergent Technologies and Design Graduate Program at the Architectural Association, London. Achim Menges’ research and practice focuses on the development of integrative design processes at the intersection of morphogenetic design computation, biomimetic engineering and digital fabrication. His projects and design research has received numerous international awards, and has been published and exhibited worldwide. His work is part of the permanent collection of the Centre Pompidou, Paris and the FRAC Centre, Orléans.