Vernelle A. A. Noel, Ph.D., is a computational design scholar, architect, artist, TED Speaker, and Director of the Situated Computation + Design Lab at Carnegie Mellon University. She critically investigates computational systems and methods in cultural practices, making, and education. Using interdisciplinary approaches, she develops new frameworks, methodologies, and tools to explore the socio-cultural and political aspects of computing for new reconfigurations of practice, pedagogy, and publics. Dr. Noel designs and builds structures and installations, develops novel computational design and production workflows for education and practice, and conducts ethnographic work (PROJECTS). She disseminates her work through writing (PUBLICATIONS), exhibitions (EXHIBITIONS), invited talks (TALKS), and workshops.
Her work has been supported by the Graham Foundation for Advanced Studies in the Fine Arts, the Mozilla Foundation, and ideas2innovation (i2i), among others. Dr. Noel is a recipient of the DigitalFUTURES Young Award for exceptional research and scholarship in the field of critical computational design. She has a TEDx Talk titled, “The Power of Making: Craft, Computation, and Carnival,” has been featured on Madame Architect, was a Keynote Speaker at ACADIA 2020, is co-editor of the book, “Critical Computational Relations in Design, Architecture and the Built Environment” with Dr. Yana Boeva, and Art Papers Chair for SIGGRAPH 2026.
Her scholarship combines methods and concepts from architecture and design, HCI, media studies, and science and technology studies (STS). A scholar committed to fostering inclusive and minority perspectives on design, making, and technology, Noel conducts workshops and gives talks on design computation worldwide. Noel has held positions at the Georgia Institute of Technology, the University of Stuttgart, the University of Florida, Penn State University, MIT, and the Singapore University of Technology & Design. She is also the founder, creator, and editor of Architecture Caribbean, an online platform that showcased and promoted design by Caribbean nationals. Vernelle holds a Ph.D. in Architecture (Design Computing) from the Pennsylvania State University, a Masters of Science in Architecture Studies from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Design Computation); a Bachelor of Architecture from Howard University, and a Diploma in Civil Engineering from the John S. Donaldson Technical Institute (University of Trinidad & Tobago). Vernelle has practiced as an architect in the US, India, and Trinidad & Tobago.