Aksamija Ajla

Ajla Aksamija, PhD, LEED AP BD+C, CDT is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. She received PhD in Architecture from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, with an emphasis on technology and environment. Her interdisciplinary research approach spans architecture, engineering, material and computer science. Her research expertise includes building science and sustainability, emerging technologies, digital design and representations, information modeling, and innovations in architecture.

Dr. Aksamija directed Perkins and Will Building Technology Laboratory (“Tech Lab”), one of the first practice-driven research laboratories focusing on advanced building technologies, high-performance buildings, computational design, and building facades. Her prior professional experience also includes U.S. Army Corps of Engineers ERDC Construction Engineering Research Laboratory and City of Champaign. She has taught architectural design studios, advanced environmental building design, comprehensive studios and seminars. She has worked on developing building analysis and modeling applications, implementation of novel materials in architectural design, development of computational models, and has collaborated with researchers from material science, civil and environmental engineering and computational design.

Her recent book, Integrating Innovation in Architecture, Design, Methods and Technology for Progressive Practice and Research, was published by John Wiley & Sons in 2016. She has also written Sustainable Facades: Design Methods for High-Performance Building Envelopes (John Wiley & Sons). Dr. Aksamija has contributed to several other books, and has published over seventy research articles and invited papers. She has presented at various national and international conferences, and is a frequent speaker at industry-based, scientific and academic conferences. She is the founder and editor of the Perkins and Will Research Journal.

Primary Interests

• High-Performance Buildings
• Emerging Building Technologies
• Architectural Innovation
• Computational Design
• Building Science