Stephanie Tabb

OVERVIEW

I co-founded the ELS Design Tech Group at ELS Architecture + Urban Design in late 2016.  Together, the group created an infrastructure for firm-wide resource management, hosted numerous presentations and training sessions, and developed more efficient workflows for the office.

I also led the computational design and digital fabrication team.  I taught an 8-week hands-on Dynamo class in addition to other visual scripting and digital fabrication training sessions.

Role - Co-founder / Leader of Computational Design + Digital Fabrication Team

2016

value proposition

The design tech group acts as an engine to increase knowledge of internal and external resources, development of tools and skills, and establish and implement initiatives.

group organization

workflow

2017 achievements

training sessions

As leader of the computational design and digital fabrication teams, I wanted to establish a culture of innovation at ELS.  I began by hosting a lunch and learn presentation for both visual scripting and digital fabrication.  The feedback from these presentations was overwhelmingly positive and over 20% of the office signed up to attend an in-house visual scripting class.

During Fall 2017, I planned and taught an 8 week Dynamo class.  I compiled the lesson plans using a variety of resources, and ensured that each training session was geared towards actionable goals and targeted implementation.

After the Dynamo class ended, a small group of us continued to meet every week to develop an in-house Dynamo and Grasshopper library.

conferences + workshops

Every year, design technology specialists throughout the world gather at select conferences and workshops to engage in high-level discourse regarding the role of technology in architecture and to work collaboratively on the production of new tools and methods. This was an opportunity for ELS Architecture + Urban Design to tap into a network of design technology experts and practitioners and to collaborate on computational and fabrication challenges.

Upon returning to ELS, we hosted an office-wide Lunch + Learn presentation to share our experiences and generate enthusiasm for new tools and techniques. Additionally, we also deployed the skills we advanced during the workshops on office projects.