ABOUT THE CENTER: STAFF

Sean Vance, AIA
Acting Director

515.8359
sean_vance@ncsu.edu

Sean Vance is a registered architect, teaching courses focused on a human centric understanding and the experience of a collaborative design philosophy.  His interests are in universal design, architectural design, urban spatial form, conceptual product design, and research in the effects of form on human interaction and function of daily life.

Sean has taught a series of courses and studios in architecture and most recently a cross disciplinary course in the College of Design.  This interdisciplinary course analyzes the interaction between people and their use of the environment in which they live.  This is a philosophy that he embraces both academically and professionally, sharing with students and colleagues the pursuit of solutions respondent to the way people live within the constraints of their abilities.  Most recently Sean has taught architectural studios on Urban Design that reflect upon Universal Design by having students analyze their solutions through the Center’s Principles of Universal Design and the AIA’s Principles for Livable Communities. Sean also works with students compiling an understanding of materials and material applications responsive to human senses to create a materials library.  This exposes young designers to a language of experience for applications in universal design.  Sean brings to the Center 15 years of architectural design experience, and his work has always been from perspective of the user, instinctively deploying the fundamentals of Universal Design.

Before joining the Center for Universal Design and School of Architecture faculty, Sean has been practicing architecture in a variety of communities throughout the East Coast and in 2004 began his own practice.  Sean is a graduate of NC State’s Master of Architecture program where he studied architecture and industrial design and was a member of Tau Sigma Delta.

Sean also serves the architectural community through his participation at the state and national levels of the American Institute of Architects.

Sharon Joines
Ergonamist, Assistant Industrical Design Professor

515.0825
sharon_joines@ncsu.edu

Sharon Joines is a researcher and ergonomist, teaching courses in human centered design and ergonomics. Her interests reside in universal design, applied product and process research, and the effect of aging on fatigue development and work. Her research focuses on quantifying the interaction between individuals, products, and their environment. Sharon works with engineers and designers in all phases of the design cycle. The challenges they have addressed traversed consumer markets, warehousing and distribution, medical applicaitons, and manufacturing environments ranging from forging to clean rooms.

Before joining the faculty in Industrial Design and the Center for Universal Design, Sharon was the director of research and education at the Ergonomics Center of North Carolina. She was a John T Caldwell Scholar, Merit Scholar, University Scholar, and NC Fellow. She is a member of the Order of Thirty and Three, Alpha Pi Mu, and the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society.

Ryan Hargrove is a graduate of North Carolina State University’s doctorate program, completing his Doctorate in Design August of 2007, where he conducted research in design education.  He completed a focused research study examining how to enhance the creative thinking of design students, entitled “Creating Creativity in the Design Studio” which was presented at the 2007 CELA Annual Conference at Penn State University.   Ryan has also been director of the NCSU Design Camp for high school students pursuing academic ambitions in design.   In addition he was rewarded a graduate teaching assistantship that allowed him to teach graduate design studios as well as design thinking courses in partnership with Marvin Malecha, Dean of the College of Design. 
Ryan is currently teaching both an undergraduate Landscape Architecture studio as well as the design thinking course in the College of Design.

Nilda Cosco

513.2022
nilda_cosco@ncsu.edu

Nilda Cosco holds a degree in Educational Psychology, Universidad del Salvador, Buenos Aires, and a Ph.D. in Landscape Architecture, Heriot Watt University, Scotland. She has a passion for the impact of outdoor environments on health outcomes such as obesity, sedentary lifestyles, attention functioning, and well-being. Her current research is supported by the National Institute of Environmental Health (NIEHS), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the Buffalo Hospital Foundation. She was the Co-PI of the Post Occupancy Evaluation (POE) of Kids Together Park sponsored by the Center for Universal Design in 2005. She is the co-author of "Well-being by Nature: Therapeutic Gardens for Children."

In January 2000, Dr. Cosco co-founded the Natural Learning Initiative (NLI), College of Design NC State University, with responsibilities for design programming and research of outdoor areas for children with and without disabilities.

Before settling in the USA, Dr. Cosco was director of the National Lekotek Center of Argentina, an institution that manages a national system of toy libraries and playrooms, and runs programs for children with special needs and at-risk youth. She coordinated the development of the design guidelines and specifications for the rehabilitation of the headquarters in Buenos Aires, and delivered national and international play-leadership training courses for children with disabilities. In 1995, she trained professional staff for the opening of the National Lekotek Center of Brazil, São Paulo.

Nancy Hitchcock Information Specialist

515.8548
nancy_hitchcock@ncsu.edu

Mara Whitney
Design and Research Assistant

515.8558
mara_whitney@ncsu.edu

Orcun Kepez is a graduate of North Carolina State University’s doctorate program, completing his Doctorate in Design May of 2007, where he conducted research on the Effect of Space on Health and Well-Being: An Environmental Assessment for Home-like Long Term Care Settings.  Orcun Kepez received a Bachelor of Science in Architecture degree in 1999 and a Master of Science in Architecture degree in 2001 from Istanbul Technical University (ITU) in Turkey.

Orcun’s interest in healthcare started as an undergraduate and he focused on hospital design for his master’s dissertation, which was titled, “A Design Model for Hospitals Based on Preliminary Decision Making about Bed Units”.  Orcun also received a “Special Recognition” award for his contribution to the 1st International Symposium of Gerontology in Turkey in 2005.  In 2004, he also shared the Best Paper Award with his coauthors in the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) – European Association for Architectural Education (EAAE) Joint International Conference in Dublin. 

As an active scholar, Orcun presented his research findings at international conferences organized in the United States, Canada, and Europe. He also published in the Journal of Environmental Psychology and proceedings of International Association of People- Environment Studies (IAPS), Environment and Design Research Association (EDRA) and Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC), and International Symposium of Gerontology.

Hyunjee Kim is a current student of North Carolina State University’s Doctorate in Design program, and a recent graduate of Seoul Korea’s Kyung Hee University where she received a master’s of Science in Housing, Child and Family Studies with a major in Interior Design.  While studying at Kyng Hee University Hyunjee was the recipient of academic and research assistance scholarships and superiority scholarships as well as honors scholarships.