EDRAite of the Month - Hessam Ghamari

Hessam Ghamari June 2015

Hessam Ghamari I am currently an assistant professor in Interior Design program at Appalachian State University. I hold a PhD in environmental interior design from Texas Tech University, and have over 10 years’ experience in research, practice, and teaching in interior design and architecture in the United States and Iran. My dissertation was an investigation of eye-fixations during wayfinding in unfamiliar environments. I also earned a M.Sc. degree in interior design from Texas Tech University and a M. Arch degree from Iran Science and Technology University.

In 2010, I received the title of "Best Researcher" in the school of Architecture and Environment Design at Iran University of Science and Technology. In 2013, I was awarded the “Best Student of The Year” in the college of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University. I was also awarded the “Covenant Health and Social Services Fellowship” in 2013 in recognition of his academic performance and achievements in healthcare research design. I have published articles in journals and international conferences on environment psychology, evidence based design, and healthcare design. My primary research interests lie with evidence based healthcare design, wayfinding in unfamiliar environments, neuroscience and architecture, and cultural approaches in design. I have also been involved in funded research projects in various areas of neuroscience and architecture and environmental design.

I am proud to be part of the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA) community as it has proven to be very rewarding at different aspects of my professional career development, teaching, research, and service. My first experience with EDRA was in May 2012 at EDRA43 in Seattle, WA. During the past years, I have had the pleasure of developing connections with some of the most passionate, knowledgeable, and intelligent educators and professionals that has had an enormous impact on my personal and professional year.

Being part of EDRA community has brought engagement with excellent venues for networking with educators and professionals from multiple disciplines. I would also believe that EDRA plays an important role in bridging the gap between academia and industry, by providing evidenced data.

For more details, see Hessam’s accomplishments at: http://faa.appstate.edu/faa-directory/1044