Notable projects of hers include Mars Ice House and Mars X-House, both first prize winners in design within NASA’s Centennial Challenge for a 3D-Printed Habitat on Mars, as well as design and construction of the Crew Health and Performance Exploration Analog (CHAPEA) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.
In 2020 Melodie joined ICON, a construction technologies company focused on large scale additive manufacturing for Earth and in space. At ICON, Melodie oversaw the architectural direction of ICON’s built work as well as the performance of ICON’s building systems. Collaborating across technology and construction teams, her department supported the design and construction of dignified and resilient terrestrial housing solutions in addition to supporting the development of ICON’s off-world construction systems.
In previous roles Melodie was a Senior Research Associate with the Human Systems Integration Division at NASA Ames via San Jose State University Research Foundation (SJSURF), a co-founder of Space Exploration Architecture (SEArch+), a research group developing human-supporting designs for space exploration, as well as a Professor within the Architecture department of Pratt Institute. Melodie teaches undergraduate and graduate design studios at Art Center College of Design.
Melodie obtained a Master of Architecture from Columbia University and a Master of Human-Computer Interaction for Robotics from the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon. She geeks out on new material & fabrication technologies. She likes tiny robots. She would like to visit the Moon (though not yet Mars) in her lifetime.
The Studio of Melodie Yashar is a research practice focused on dual-use technology development for Earth and in space. Our environmental and speculative projects place special emphasis on supporting technologies to build off-world habitats and ensure a permanent human presence on the Moon and eventually Mars.
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