Math Whittaker

Computational Design Portfolio

Skills

Softwares

Languages and Frameworks

Digital Fabrication

Education

B.A Hons Three Dimensional Design - Manchester Metropolitan University 2016

Masters of Design Studies (Technology) - Harvard University 2018

Professional Experience

Sigmamu Studio, UK—Co-Director/ Computational designer

Sept 2020 - PRESENT
Co- founded Sigamamu studio, this is a design consultation studio focused on developing solutions to design problems through the use of computational design techniques as well as designing solutions with modern technologies including micro electronics and digital fabrication. Through this I have worked on various projects including developing Javascript webtools, rewriting and optimizing grasshopper scripts, developing designs for small scale architecture.

New Balance, USA— Technical Designer 2

January 2019 - September 2019
Worked as Technical Designer 2 for New balance. In this role I created computational design tools for new balance to help designers develop designs faster. Some of these tools were written in C# for Grasshopper to aid the computational design department. I also developed tools in Javascript, Java, processing and python in order to develop tools based on Photoshop in order to create tools which could be used by less computationally skilled designers. I also worked on using computational design techniques such as agent based simulation in conjunction with data collected from athletes in order to create high performance data driven designs.

Harvard University , USA— Teaching Assistant

January 2018 - May 2018
Worked as a Teaching Assistant for "Digital Media 2" Class at Harvard University. The focus of this class was to teach students the skills and thought processes required to create interactive designs. Through this I taught and ran classes in C++ for arduino/proton, how to collect data and then reinterpret it to create interactive designs, And help the students develop the design aesthetics of their project.

Jali Ltd, UK—R&D Researcher

August 2014 - July 2016
I worked as a researcher in the manufacturing and design research department. Through this I worked on various projects from developing manufacturing methods for large scale industrial robots including 3D printing techniques and flame cutting. I also worked on reorganising the company's factory layout in order to increase efficiency. Finally I worked on smaller scale projects including developing a 3D printer in order to increase prototype development and give customers a better idea of what the custom product they would receive was going to look like

Ockenden Engineering, UK—Cad Designer

July 2011 - August 2014
Generated 2D sheet metal drawings in solidworks for various projects ranging from small scale automotive parts to large scale commercial engineering projects such as developing a carbon neutral power generators

Achievements

Awards

  • Makers Dozen Innovation award. I was awarded this by a Design Collective in Manchester UK based on the work produced from my undergraduate degree.

  • Ferrious Design Outstanding achievement award 2016. I was awarded thisby the Design company Ferrious, based on the work produced from my undergraduate degree.

    • Exhibitions

  • New Designers Exhibition London. I exhibited my undergraduate work at the New designers exhibition in London. For this I was selected with a small number of other students to represent the university for furniture Design.

  • Manchester School of Art Graduate exhibition 2016. I exhibited my final project from my undergraduate degree from the 11-22nd June 2016. Estimated attendance 2000+ people

    • Talks

  • Textiles: Virtual to Actual event at Siggraph 2019. I conducted a 30 minute presentation followed by a panel discussion on the limitation of computational tools to aid the design and manufacturing of 3D knitted objects

  • “Form optimization for designers, architects and engineers”. I conducted an hour long webinar for Performance Network which focused on Topological Optimization within the Grasshopper environment. The First 30 minutes of the webinar focused on the theory and technology behind Topological Optimization including a brief explanation of FEA and Volumetric modelling. The second half was a demonstration of implementing topological optimization simulations in 2D and 3D.

  • Threads : A push towards body conscious clothing. My masters thesis published at Harvard University Produced: May 2017