Mohammad Dastmalchi

Mohammad R. Dastmalchi is an Assistant Professor of Interior Architecture at the University of Kansas. Mohammad holds a bachelor's degree in interior design from Ajman University of Science and Technology, M.F.A in Design Pedagogy from the University of North Texas, and currently he’s a doctoral candidate in Design with Digital Media at the University of Missouri. Mohammad has over 9 years of teaching experience and has taught in multiple design and architecture programs. His teaching experience includes both advanced and basic studios, along with various courses on design communication, digital media, and interior detailing. His professional design experience has been mostly focused on commercial and educational environments. Mohammad has collaborated with different design and construction firms around the world and has completed projects in various cities, such as Dubai, Tehran, and Dallas. In addition to his professional practice in interior architecture, he has designed and built digital games and interactive virtual environments.

Mohammad’s research focuses on collaborative design thinking, and particularly how immersive technologies, such as Virtual Reality (VR) systems can impact designers' communication and design process. In his dissertation, Mohammad studied the impacts of virtual embodiment on designers and building occupants. By drawing on theories of embodied cognition, he compared user’s understanding of space and how having a virtual avatar can influence their cognition and perception. Mohammad is interested in integrating his knowledge in immersive technologies to explore possibilities in ‘WEB3’ and ‘Metaverse’ and how the future generations can benefit from it. He is also a researcher at the Center for Design Research at KU.