Jenny Sabin
Principal and Principal Investigator
Jenny Sabin’s work is at the forefront of a new direction for 21st century architectural practice, investigating the intersections of architecture and science while applying insights from biology and mathematics to design of material structures.
Kobe Phillips
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE & Lab manager
Kobe Phillips is a graduate student in the M.S. Design Technology program at Cornell University. With a background in evolutionary biology, Kobe’s research centers on programmable ecologies—technologies and infrastructures that respond, adapt, and co-evolve with living systems. In the JSLab, Kobe works across the heart, plant, and brain cell types in the NSF-funded URoL:EN project. At Cornell, Kobe continues to develop new material interfaces and design methodologies that embody interdependence, material intelligence, and environmental responsiveness—shaping a future where design collaborates with, rather than controls, the living world.
Madison Feely
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Madison Feely is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Fiber Science and Apparel Design at Cornell University. Her research includes developing biologically inspired knit structures on manual and computerized knitting machines. Madison is interested in the textile engineering of knit and woven fabrics, and how these can be applied to everyday life. In the JSLab, Madison is currently working on the NSF-funded URoL:EN project.
Sophia Sun
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Sophia Sun is a graduate student in the M.S. in Design Technology program at Cornell University .With an architectural background, her interests center on material programming and exploring how robotics can expand the possibilities of design and fabrication. Her current research engages with parametric design, robotics, and material systems, including underwater 3D printing workflows and robotic fabrication.
Catherine Pak
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Catherine Pak is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Materials Science and Engineering from Cornell University. She is interested in the overlap between intentional design and sustainable energy, and she currently works on the Robosense project. She is continuously inspired by how nature can educate engineering and design choices and hopes to develop her knowledge and skills in the realm of bioinspired design.
Bo Li
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Bo Li is a graduate student in the M.S. Design Technology program at Cornell University. With over a decade of experience in architectural and urban design, Bo previously served as a partner at a top 10 architectural firm in China. His work has received multiple design awards, contributing to projects such as China’s first-generation high-speed rail stations and public rental housing. He has worked extensively with Fortune 500 companies including China Vanke Co., Ltd., China Resources Land Limited, and Poly property. Currently, he is a research assistant at JS LAB, focusing on robotic fabrication, modular 3D printing, and robotic assembly, while also exploring AI-driven interactive design in architecture.
Gabriella Best
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Gabriella Best is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.A. in Computer Science at Cornell University. She is currently working on the NSF-funded URoL:EN project. Beyond her work in the JSLab, she is a software engineer on the Cornell Rocketry Team and training a machine learning model for wasp pose tracking through synthetic data generation. As a Milstein Program Scholar, she is passionate about exploring the interdisciplinary applications of emerging technologies.
Elise Carpenter
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Elise Carpenter is an undergraduate student pursuing a B.S. in Information Science at Cornell University. Interested in the intersection of biological data and interactive technologies, she is contributing to modeling living systems in the NSF-funded URoL:EN project. With a passion for inquiry, she is a member of The Cornell Commitment program as a Hunter R. Rawlings III Cornell Presidential Research Scholar.
Stevie Phelabaum
RESEARCH ASSOCIATE
Stevie Phelabaum is a graduate student in the M.S. Design Technology program at Cornell University. She has previous academic, industry, and government research experience in the fields of biofuel development, oncology, virology, and bacteriology. She is interested in incorporating her biotechnology and molecular biology skills into the fabrication of bioinspired living materials. In the JSLab, Stevie is currently working on the NSF-funded URoL:EN project.
Alumni:
Zeiad Amin, Alexia Asgari, Julia Barnoin, Jeremy Bilotti, Eda Begum Birol, Nicholas Cassab, Daniel Cellucci, Omar Dairi, Madeleine Eggers, Shuo Feng, Lauren Greene, Frances Gregor, Chenming He, John Hilla, Zhenxiang Huang, Jessica Jiang, Colby Johnson, Yuji Kitamura, Alexander Kyaw, Ian Limbaseanu, Anita Lin, Jingyang Liu Leo, Jasmine Liu, Xinlin Lu, Andrew Lucia, Bowen Luo, Yehong Mi, Martin Miller, Mahshid Moghadasi, Andrew Moorman, Cameron Nelson, Bennett Norman, Giffen Ott, Jack Otto, Yifei Peng, Karolina Piorko, Ivania Rivera, Cardinal Robinson, David Rosenwasser, Marina Rosolem, Jeeya Savani, Zada Stuart, Teng Teng, Hung Ming Tseng, Max Vanatta, Simin Wang, Alexander Wolkow, Daniel Woo, Liangjie Wu, Chisato Yamakawa, Hoon Yoon, Veronika Varga, Chi Zhang, Viola Zhang