PROTOTYPE BY DESIGN RESEARCH/FASHION
STUDENT NICOLE FELLER-JOHNSON
Recent Funding, and Publications
Funding:
Spring 2024: $3,000.00 Team URBN Steamlab, Diana Nicholas, Shivanthi Anandan, and entrepreneurship fellow Michael Onontuase (Drexel CCI Master’s Student), attended National Science Foundation (NSF) Icorps Propelus Session for the regional program April 4-26 2024. Garden Fresh Home team Shivanthi Anandan, Diana Nicholas. PI: Shintaro Kaido. Role: Team member
Fall 2023: $1,000,000.00 National Science Foundation: Civic Federal Funding; Role: Key Personnel, and Team Member
PI: Ayana Allen-Handy, PhD, Co-PI: Rachel Wenrick Founding Director Writer’s Room; Pennsylvania: Philadelphia - Placekeeping: a Co-designed Model for Intergenerational Co-housing and Coalition Building in a University-Adjacent Community. NSF Award #2322329.
Fall 2022: $15,000.00 AIA UpJohn Research Grant, Role Primary Investigator; Co-Primary Investigators Rachel Wenrick and Ayana Allen Handy; Age Friendly University and Community Creative Spaces
$600,000.00 Americorp Federal Funding; Role: Key Personnel, PI: Ayana Allen-Handy, PhD, Co-PI: Rachel Wenrick Founding Director Writer’s Room; Drexel University Arts-centered Community Action: How Public Arts Programming Strengthens Civic Infrastructure and Promotes Civic Innovation 3 Year Funding.
$100,000 Foundation Grant, Role: Co-Investigator; William Penn Foundation Faculty: Jenna Hirsch PI; Yvonne Michael Co-I, D.S. Nicholas Co-I, Debra Ruben Co-I, Nancy Epstein Co-I This team is studying the implementation of play-spaces in terms of several established measure of spatial success and is making recommendations for future funding of spaces.
Publications:
Book Chapters
November 2022 Nicholas, D., Anandan, S. (2023). URBN STEAMlab and biophilic environments: Science, art and design. In L. Atzmon (Ed.) Design and science: Catalyzing collaborations. University of Michigan / Routledge. Invited book chapter on collaborative research practices.
Nicholas, D. (2024) Novel territories: Gender and the urban residential interior. In G, Marinic (Ed.), The interior urbanism reader. University of Kansas, Taylor and Francis.
Recent Journal Articles:
2023 Michael, Y. L., Nicholas, D. S., Ruben, D., Epstein, N., Dickinson, S. T., & Hirsch, J. A. (2023). Increasing Healthy Play: A Multi-Pronged Evaluation of Context, Design, and Perceptions for Play Space Improvements. Journal of Healthy Eating and Active Living, 3(2), 100–106. https://doi.org/10.51250/jheal.v3i2.62
2023 Hurwich, T., Nicholas, D., Fleming, F., Gondek, P.; Katzbuoninconto, J., King, D. Designing and Iterating for Interdisciplinary, Creative Research in Graduate Teams; (forthcoming 2023) International Journal of Designs for Learning
2022 Perignat, E., Fleming, F. F., Nicholas, D., King, D., Katz-Buonincontro, J., & Gondek, P. (2022). Effective Practices for High Performing Interdisciplinary Faculty Teams. College Teaching. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/87567555.2022.2086525
2020 Nicholas, D., Michael, Y., & Anandan, S. (2020). Covid-19 Home Sign-Posts. Enquiry The ARCC Journal for Architectural Research, 17(2), 41–62. https://doi.org/10.17831/enq:arcc. v16i2.1073
D.S. Nicholas (Dee)
Expert in equitable aging, health, and evidence-based design; creative coach and facilitator
Dee established the Drexel Design Research for Health lab for evidence-based design, interdisciplinary research, and scholarship, in 2013. She is a tenured Associate Professor and the Founding Director of the MS Design Research Program at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Dee holds a BARCH from Carnegie Mellon, an MFA from The University of the Arts, and is currently working towards her Social Science Ph.D. in Leadership and Change at Antioch University. Primarily concerned with the health-supportive possibilities within our environments, Dee’s work springs from her formative experiences as a “third culture kid” and MENA woman. With 25 years of practice and Higher Ed. Experience, including as a small business owner. Dee also co-holds two patents and collaborates with researchers and students from Design, STEM, and Health. As a professor, creative coach, and consultant, She specializes in two processes she has developed, “insightful design thinking” and “slow engagement”, both of which are based on design thinking and design-led strategy.
Based on over 20 years of scholarship and research, Dee believes there are three aspects to the Future of Design:
1. Research, and evidence, as the basis for all design decisions.
2. Equity, access, and climate as interconnected complex problems that are primary aspects of every design situation.
3. All designers must operate as servant leaders within their communities of work.
KEYWORDS healthy aging, health, and housing, collaboration, mentorship, urban housing, housing insecurity, food access, advanced manufacturing
Speaking and Keynotes:
2023 October 18th Invited workshop Second Story Collective: A blueprint for community co-design and engagement PACDC. “2023 PACDC Equitable Development Conference” https://pacdc.org/2023-pacdc-equitable-development-conference-register-today/.
2023 May 19th 2023 Invited speaker Swiss Center for Design and Health: Invited to speak for the launch of the book: Atzmon, L. (Ed.). (2022). Lenses of Invention: URBN STEAMlab integrating science, art, and design. In Design and Science. Bloomsbury Visual Arts. https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/design-and-science-9781350061934/
2023 NSF Idea Lab Presentation: Session sponsored by The Council of Graduate School Idea Lab 3: Building an Interdisciplinary Approach to Graduate Training, Thursday, March 9th The presentation was given by D. S. Nicholas, NCIDQ, AIA, NCARB, LEED GA “Designing For Creative Research In Graduate Education IGE Idea Lab 3” The presentation covered the Graduate ITOC minor, the team process and the iterative method deployed in classes.
2022 Invited Keynote Speaker: D.S. Nicholas Cincinnati AIA Visions May 2022 Diana Nicholas. (2022, May 30). VISION Keynote: Design-Led Co-Strategy4HEALTH [Keynote speech]. Vision Symposium AIA, Cincinnati Ohio. https://aiacincinnati.org/ programs/events/081122-vision-keynote-radical-practice
D.S. Nicholas Distinguished Speaker for Master Class on ‘Design Thinking in Hospitals’, during FICCI HEAL, on October 10, 2022, at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi. During a session organized by Tulika Puri. International Event/Outlet
Invited Lecture Series Speaker George Fox University ArtTalk Series: Nicholas, D. (2021, February 2). Design, Research, and Social Impact Practices [Invited Speaker]. Art Talk Lecture Series, George Fox University.