Welcome to the Research Open House 2021!
We’re happy to announce this year’s Research Open House winners in the categories of Sustainability, Innovation, Impact, Start-Up Power, and the People’s Choice Award. Congratulations!
Thank you to everyone who has supported research at Pratt Institute and your enthusiasm for this year’s Research Open House. We’re so grateful for our community and we hope that you continue to enjoy the site.
Please be in touch with the Office of Research & Strategic Partnerships with any questions or to discuss a potential project or collaboration by emailing research-partnership@pratt.edu.
Welcome Letter
We could not have imagined that last year, when we decided to move online the annual Pratt Research Open House, we would still be working remotely a year later. This time has been challenging for all of us, which is why we are so impressed and humbled by the work of the Pratt research community as they have pushed through this unprecedented time with grace, humor, and tenacity. We are very proud of the deeply thoughtful, impactful, and truly unique research that they continue to pursue, and share their progress here.
Since establishing the Office of Research & Strategic Partnerships in the Office of the Provost, our mission has been to support and cultivate research at Pratt in all its various forms. A few of these forms have been the Research Seed Grant program, of which you’ll find some updates from projects from the 2019–2020 year on this year’s site; our Provost Centers’ diverse research that focus on robotics, sustainability, community development, and spatial analysis; and our day-to-day efforts in mentoring and championing our research-active faculty, staff, and students.
When we meet with people both within and outside of the Institute, we’re often asked what exactly we mean by “research” at Pratt Institute.
When we say research, we mean involving the communities we design, work, and teach with to inform and expand what is possible. If you ask yourself how your work can solve problems, impact an audience, and then how impact will be measured…we think that can add up to important research.
When we say research, we mean becoming mindful of the personal artistic practice and design process to consider how that process affects outcomes. If you ask yourself what happens if the medium, materials, audience, or approach are changed…that too is research people need to learn from.
When we say research, we also mean adapting the ways and processes of making and designing in a world that is reckoning with broken systems and the need for change. If you ask how to ethically approach a design problem, and how to accomplish something in a more sustainable, equitable, or innovative way…that too is research.
With all that is research, we are thankful that so many people at Pratt lead the way.
We hope that you will enjoy this glimpse of the ongoing research at Pratt and be in touch with us about the incredible work that has been done and the inspiring work that is on the horizon.
Our research best,
Allison Druin, Ph.D.
Associate Provost of Research and Strategic Partnerships
Kathryn Kelly
Manager, Office of Research and Strategic Partnerships