Education:
Bachelor of Arts in Architecture, UNC Charlotte (2011)
Bachelor of Architecture, UNC Charlotte (2012)
Master of Architecture, UNC Charlotte (2015)
Master of Science in Information Technology, UNC Charlotte (2015)
Hometown: Cary, N.C.
Steven Danilowicz earned both his undergraduate and graduate degrees from UNC Charlotte. In fact, he considers his participation in UNC Charlotte’s Design Computation master’s program a defining point in his life since it introduced him to HDR. For his thesis, Steven focused on a collaborative project between the College of Arts + Architecture Digital Arts (d-Arts) Center and the College of Computing and Informatics visualization laboratory (Viz-Lab) to help develop a tool called Visual Analytics for Large-Scale Ethnography (VALSE). VALSE works as a camera array to capture interactions between people and their environments, and it uses machine learning to determine which of these interactions are considered “meaningful.” The data gathered from this tool can then be used in a post-occupancy evaluation of a space to determine how well it is functioning.
Steven worked with HDR’s data-driven design experts in its Charlotte office to utilize VALSE in healthcare environments. “It was a nice way for me to get involved with HDR and to become familiar with the company’s healthcare projects.”
That led to an internship at HDR while he was still in graduate school, and then Steven was hired by HDR as an architectural coordinator within a month of graduating with his master’s degree. Now, more than two years later, he works on parametric design, which involves programming and implementing tools such as cost models and building analysis tools, for example, to help streamline work on healthcare projects.
“My time in UNC Charlotte’s architecture program helped expose me to an aspect of architecture that I didn’t even know existed. The curriculum encompasses many different ideas and methods of design, and it helped me focus in on what I found to be the most fascinating. My time in UNC Charlotte’s undergrad program sparked my interest in digital and computational design, and my graduate experience solidified it.”