I build systems that teach taste.
Taste is both sensation and point of view. The first is given. The second is built through trained observation, vocabulary, frameworks, and creative practice. I study how experts build it in different fields and design systems that make it transmissible: notation, data art, sensory installations, design education.
Current projects: finishing Flavor Fluency (Penguin, 2027) · growing work from NCEAS residency · teaching at Dartmouth · establishing a new lab and program
Forthcoming
Flavor Fluency
Penguin Group, 2027
My forthcoming book introduces the first notation system for flavor perception. More →
Forthcoming
Natural Artificial Labs
Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth — March 2026
A new lab and program of research, fellowship, and exhibition — making invisible systems perceptible through design, data, and sensory experience. More →
Taste & Perception
Translating perceptual learning into systems we can study, teach, and compose with.
Taste the Changing Forest
ICA Boston, November 2025
The Structural DNA of Unsolved Problems
Harvard, 2013–2014 · Dartmouth, 2025–present
Smell the Changing Forest
ICA Boston, November 2025
Taste Cartographies
NCEAS, UC Santa Barbara, 2025
Visualizing Design Taste
Data Visualization, 2013–present
Flavor Fluency Film Series
How Chefs Become Fluent in Flavor, 2017
100 Ways of Seeing
Expression-Perception Study, Harvard 2015–2021
Flavor Genome Project
2015–present
Feelings for Dinner
Culinary Art Exhibit, MIT + Study Restaurant, 2015
Chef League
iOS App, 2019–present
Sensory Composition Project
Umbria Art Residency, Italy, 2014–2015
AI-Kitchen Series
Algorithms of Popularity, 2016–2017
Interactive Visualizations of Our City
Museum of Science / IEEE / NASA, 2024
Design Education
Teaching designers and engineers to notice, think iteratively through building, and collaborate across disciplines.
Design Initiative at Dartmouth
Inaugural Director, 2025–present
Brown University + Rhode Island School of Design Joint MA Program
Founding Executive Director, 2021–2025
Harvard Design + Engineering Programs
Faculty, 2011–2021
Design Survivor
Harvard, 2013–2021 · Dartmouth, 2026+
Innovators’ Practice
ES21: Finding, Building, and Leading Good Ideas, Harvard, 2012–2021
Cultural Entrepreneurship in NYC
Harvard SEAS + HBS, 2013–2014
Integrated Design
ES 285, Harvard SEAS + HBS, 2018–2021
Design & Industry
Bringing design research into organizations — from robotics to luxury to museums, remote work, disaster relief, and more.
Design Intelligences
Global design, 6 continents, 2010–present
Gita Robot
Piaggio Fast Forward, 2015–2018
Kering / Gucci Sustainability
2010–2011, plan to last to 2025
Off Their Plate
Pandemic Relief, 2020
Product & Experience Design Research
Research and Blog, 2013+
Digital Nomads and the Future of Work
Harvard, 2015–2018
Designing Innovation
Speaking & Workshops
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Education
Postdoc MIT · Visiting Scholar Stanford · PhD Univ of Cambridge · MPhil Univ of Cape Town · Diplomado PUC Chile · BS & BA ASU Barrett Honors College
Recognition
Thinkers50 Emerging Thinker · Harvard Crimson Top 15 Professor · Artist in Residence, National Center for Ecological Analysis & Synthesis · Vermont Studio Center Residency · Fulbright Scholar (Spain)
Clients
Gucci · Kering · Uber · IKEA · Disney · Microsoft · Google · Intel · IDEO · General Mills · Bosch · PWC · Swarovski · Tesco · SAB Miller · Dandelion · Expedia
Press
CNN · Wall Street Journal · Boston Magazine · Forbes · Kinfolk Magazine · VentureBeat · Independent · Outside · Adweek · Fortune · HBR