Caitlin Mueller

Caitlin Mueller is a researcher and educator who works at the creative interface of architecture, structural engineering, and computation. She is currently an Associate Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Department of Architecture and Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, where she is the Director of the Building Technology Program.  Since 2014, she has led her own research group, Digital Structures.  Mueller’s work with her group focuses on new computational design and digital fabrication methods for innovative, high-performance buildings and structures that empower a more sustainable and equitable future.

Key research projects include multi-physics design, optimization, and fabrication of low-cost, low-carbon structures in a range of materials, including reinforced concrete and timber.  She also works on harnessing emerging techniques in computational geometry and machine learning to develop more human-centric and high-performance computational design processes.  Recently, she has developed and tested algorithmic design approaches for unconventional circular material use in building structures, focusing on salvaged wood sources and reassembly of  concrete parts.  With Sheila Kennedy, she is advancing this work in a multi-year climate-focused pedagogical platform called ODDS & MODS, in which students explore new design possibilities in circular construction, advanced technologies, and community engagement.

Mueller holds three degrees from MIT in Architecture (2007), Computation (2014), and Building Technology (2014), and one from Stanford in Structural Engineering (2008).  Her research is funded by federal agencies and industry partners, including the National Science Foundation, FEMA, the MIT Tata Center, the MIT Portugal Program, the Dar Group, Holcim, Robert McNeel & Associates, and Altair Engineering.  She is the author or co-author of over 140 peer-reviewed scientific publications and winner of six best paper awards.  Mueller was awarded the ACADIA Innovative Research Award of Excellence by the Association for Computer Aided Design in Architecture in 2021 and the Diversity Achievement Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture in 2022.