The College of Architecture and Environmental Design is pleased to welcome several new faculty members for Fall 2026. Representing a broad range of scholarly and professional expertise, these individuals will contribute to the college’s mission of advancing design education, research, and practice. Their diverse backgrounds and perspectives will enrich the academic experience for our students while fostering new opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration and innovation. We are proud to introduce our newest faculty members and look forward to the contributions they will make to the college community.
Megan Humphreys, LEED GA
Construction Management Lecturer
Megan Humphreys is a construction professional with over 12 years of experience in the construction industry and 9 years of experience educating college students and professionals.
She earned her Master in Business Administration, Bachelor of Science in Construction Management, and Bachelor of Art in Architecture Studies degrees from 91´óÉñ where she graduated Cum Laude and was honored with the Leadership Excellence Award from the university.
Humphrey’s extensive experience in the commercial construction market includes roles ranging from field engineer to project engineer, cost manager, LEED manager, superintendent, and estimator with experience competitively bidding and managing projects from $100,000 to over $50,000,000 in volume. She teaches Construction Estimating I, Construction Estimating II, Construction Scheduling, Document Reading, and Capstone classes. Megan also is the Faculty Advisor for the ABC and MCAA student competition programs.
Rujan Kayastha, Ph.D. (anticipated Fall 2026)
Construction Management Assistant Professor
Rujan Kayastha is a Ph.D. candidate in Materials Science, Engineering, and Commercialization (MSEC) at Texas State University. He obtained his M.S. degree in Construction Management from Texas State University and a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Pulchowk Campus, Nepal.
With over 15 years of international experience in aviation, commercial, and residential construction, including projects in Dubai, Qatar, Nepal, and the United States, Rujan brings a blend of industry expertise and academic research to his work. His professional background spans multifamily housing, hotels, large-scale infrastructure projects, and aviation, where he has contributed to project/field management, estimation, scheduling, productivity, construction safety, and construction disputes.
Rujan pursued his graduate studies at Texas State University due to its research-oriented Construction Management approach and subsequently joined the MSEC doctoral program to integrate advanced materials research with construction practices and commercialization strategies.
His current research focuses on the design of job-specific insoles for construction roofers based on plantar pressure distribution and using advanced polymeric materials. This work aims to improve the health, comfort, and efficiency of construction workers, ultimately enhancing workplace safety and productivity.
Ji Yoon Bae, Ph.D. (anticipated Fall 2026)
Architecture Assistant Professor
Ji Yoon Bae is an Assistant Professor of Architecture at 91´óÉñ’s CAED. He is an architectural designer and researcher finalizing his Ph.D. at the University of Pennsylvania’s Weitzman School of Design, where he develops "Homeostatic Architecture"—an interdisciplinary framework that integrates design with biology, materials science, and thermodynamics.
His work explores biologically informed, self-regulating systems that foster feedback loops between humans, buildings, and their surrounding environments. By translating biological mechanisms into climate-responsive building systems, he seeks to enhance human thermal comfort while mitigating ecological impact. Prior to 91´óÉñ, he was a researcher at UPenn, specializing in computational design, building science, and materials experimentation. He holds an MS in Matter Design Computation from Cornell University and an M.Arch from Syracuse University.
Zherui Wang, Ph.D. (anticipated Fall 2026)
Architecture Assistant Professor
Zherui Wang is a designer and researcher currently conducting his doctoral work between CEBD Thermal Architecture Lab and the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania Weitzman School of Design. His cross-disciplinary research spans between environmental building performance and form-finding, informed by architectural geometry, digital fabrication, and material.
Previously, Wang was an Academic Professional Researcher at CHAOS Lab in Princeton University Andlinger Center for the Energy and Environment, a Research Scholar at C-Lab in Columbia University GSAPP, and a faculty member at Penn, SUNY Buffalo, and Pratt Institute. He holds a post-professional MArch from Princeton University and a BArch from Pratt Institute.
Misri Patel
Interior Design Assistant Professor
Misri Patel is an architect and researcher from Mumbai, India. Her research and pedagogical interests center around the intersection of material systems, computational design, and acoustics, with a strong emphasis on both traditional and advanced fabrication methods. She investigates how emerging technologies, particularly additive manufacturing, can be leveraged through performance-based design strategies and integrated with craft and other vernacular techniques that are both culturally resonant and contextually grounded.
Most recently, she was the recipient of the 2025 Ventulett NEXT Professorship at Georgia Institute of Technology, 2023-25 Ann Kalla Professorship at Carnegie Mellon University, 2021-23 Visiting Assistant Professor of Practice at the University of Tennessee, and 2019 Ballard Fellowship at LTU. Her work has been published in Unfolded, Portico, ideasforward-24H, Architect Magazine, ACSA, ACADIA, International Symposium on Musical and Room Acoustics, and exhibited at the Venice Biennale, DigitalFUTURES conference, Korea Foundation, and the Center for Architecture, New York.
Patel holds a Bachelor of Architecture, a Master of Science in Digital and Material Technology, and a Doctor of Design. Prior to her teaching appointments, she gained professional experience at the offices of Sameep Padora, Mumbai and LOT-EK, New York, and shadowed at Perkins and Will, Los Angeles.
Martin Francis Hitch
Schidlowski Emerging Faculty Fellow
Martin Francis Hitch is a designer, builder, and educator whose work spans architecture, earthworks, furniture, and public art. As co-founder of i/thee, he has designed, fabricated, and installed projects across a range of scales, with a particular interest in material processes and the translation of natural systems into built form. He holds a Master of Architecture from the California College of the Arts (2023) and a Bachelor of Arts in Architecture from Judson University (2014). He brings over a decade of professional experience in architecture in the San Francisco Bay Area, including work as a senior designer at Arcsine Architecture and Interiors in beautiful downtown Oakland, California. Martin has taught at Arizona State University and the California College of the Arts, and his work reflects a sustained engagement with site, craft, and experience, attuned to the hand, the material, and the act of making.