Dennis Shelden the Director of CASE and an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture at Rensselaer. He is a licensed architect, academic, author, and entrepreneur, whose experience spans architecture, engineering, and computer science applications to professional practice and the built environment. He writes and lectures widely on these topics from theoretical and technical as well as professional practice, economic, and industry transformation perspectives.

Dennis joined the architecture firm Gehry Partners in 1997 while still in MIT’s PhD program, first as Director of Research and Development, then as Director of Computing, and was responsible for the management and strategic direction of the firm’s computing program including software and process development, research, IT infrastructure, and partnerships. His PhD Thesis Digital Surface Representation and the Constructability of Gehry’s Architecture remains a widely referenced treatise on the motivations and technical underpinnings of the firm’s revolutionary applications of digital modeling to the design and delivery of complex buildings. In 2002 he co-founded the spinoff company Gehry Technologies, serving as Chief Technology Officer on the development of several software products and Project Executive on numerous ground breaking building projects until the firm’s acquisition by Trimble in 2014. Prior to joining Gehry Partners he held diverse positions including performing structural and environmental engineering work for Arup, real time optimization of building energy systems for Consultants’ Computation Bureau, and development of the first laser based cloud of point scanner at Cyra Systems, since acquired by Leica.

His work focuses on professional applications of generative and building information modelling to the design, construction and operation of integrated physical / digital building systems. Prior to leading CASE he was Associate Professor of Architecture, Director of the Digital Building Laboratory, and Director of the School of Architecture’s Doctoral program at Georgia Tech, Associate Professor of Practice in MIT’s Design and Computation Program, and held teaching positions at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) and the Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc). He co-directs the technical program for BuildingSmart International, the building industries’ open information standards body, where he leads efforts to develop technology platforms for open data Web and cloud based building design, construction and operations systems.

His publications have appeared in journals including AD: Architectural Design, TAD: Technology and Architectural Design, and the Journal of Construction Automation, and he has been interviewed in publications including the Economist, New York Times, Design Intelligence, and Engineering News Record.

He holds three degrees from MIT: a Bachelor of Science in Architectural Design, a Master of Science in Civil and Environmental Engineering, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Design and Computation conducted under the advisement of the late William J. Mitchell.