Aaron Siegel

aaronsie@usc.edu

Personal Profile

Aaron Siegel is a transdisciplinarian with a concentration in computational information design. His motivation comes from interesting data sets, interfaces, and public spaces. He utilizes data visualization as a medium to explore complex systems, aiming to create aesthetic representations of data while fostering scientific empiricism. His work strives to display relationships and correlations within information systems that would remain unseen from any other perspective.

He has created work for various institutions including the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Electroland, Directed Play, the MIT SENSEable City Laboratory, Facebook and Fabrica. He has exhibited work in Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco, Salt Lake City, Reno, Memphis, Indianapolis, Seattle, New York, Guadalajara, Madrid, Trieste, Heidelberg, Singapore and Rome. Aaron is currently an Assistant Professor of Teaching, Interactive Technologies at the University of Southern California Iovine and Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation.

Education

2008 M.F.A. in Design | Media Art
School of Arts and Architecture
University of California, Los Angeles
 Thesis title: "Illustrating Power Structures"
Thesis supervisor: Professor Mark Hansen

2006 B.F.A. in Digital Media Art
Department of Art and Art History
San Jose State University
 Thesis title: "The Art and Science of Computational Information Design"
Thesis supervisor: Professor Joel Slayton

Professional Appointments

Assistant Professor of Teaching, Design (Interactive Technologies)
Iovine and Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation
University of Southern California, 2017 - Present
 Taught a total of 11 different undergraduate and 10 graduate classes. Academic Senate 2022-2024. Curriculum Committee. Merit Review Committee. Helped establish the Master of Science in Product Innovation program. Helped establish the Health Innovation minor. Helped establish the Designing Digital Experiences minor.

Part-Time Lecturer
Roski School of Art and Design
Iovine and Young Academy for Arts, Technology, and the Business of Innovation
University of Southern California, 2015 - 2017
 Taught a total of 2 different undergraduate classes and authored 2 graduate classes. Helped develop the Master of Science in Integrated Design, Business, and Technology program.

Head of Interaction and Online Experience
Creative Director of Urban Codes Studio
Fabrica, 2012 - 2014
 Oversaw an international interdisciplinary team of 10 residents (Italy, Germany, Colombia, Canada, India, Poland, UK, USA) working on individual artworks, group projects, client-driven challenge based learning initiatives and group exhibitions. Facilitated guest workshops and lectures. Reviewed 100+ resident applications and oversaw 20+ 2-week trial-residencies. Designed and developed the organization's web presence, ecommerce functionality, and online exhibition materials. Exhibited interactive installations at the Museum of 21st Century Art (MAXXI) in Rome, Italy. Worked with Tellart to produce exhibition content for the Museum of Future Government Services 2014 in Dubai, UAE. Founded an interdisciplinary studio to focus on interaction design applied to urban environments.

Research Engineer
SENSEable City Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2011
 Lead data visualization contributor and software developer on 5 different visualizations for Live Singapore and BackTalk projects, exhibited at the Singapore Art Museum and the Talk to Me exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art, New York, curated by Paola Antonelli.

Research Fellow
NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 2008
 Worked with the Mars Climate Sounder team (principle investigator Dan McCleese, Chief Scientist) and Visual Strategist Dan Goods to create interactive software visualizations of Martian climate data being collected by the Mars Climate Sounder mounted on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter.

Teaching Experience

ACAD 176 - Rapid Visualization
4 units, 5 sessions (2024 Fall, 2023 Fall, 2022 Fall, 2021 Fall, 2020 Fall)
Techniques, methods, concepts, tools, and materials that are used to quickly visualize and communicate ideas and develop problem-solving skills.

ACAD 177 - Digital Toolbox for Design
2 units, 1 session (2019 Fall)
Basics of industry-standard creative, analytical and presentation software. Applications include design, illustration, presentation and publishing.

ACAD 178 - Digital Toolbox for Motion Graphics
2 units, 14 sessions (2024 Fall, 2024 Spring, 2023 Fall, 2023 Spring, 2022 Spring (2), 2021 Spring (2), 2020 Spring (2), 2019 Spring, 2018 Spring, 2017 Spring, 2016 Spring)
[Redesigned Course] Basics of industry standard software for motion graphics, visual effects, animation design, generative art and interactive visual experiences.

ACAD 187 - Digital Toolbox for 3D Design
2 units, 3 sessions (2022 Fall, 2019 Spring, 2018 Spring)
[Redesigned Course] Basics of industry standard software for modeling and rendering 3D materials, objects and lighting. Includes instruction in pipelines for 3D assets.

ACAD 277 - Dev I
4 units, 2 sessions (2023 Spring, 2022 Fall)
Web page design and creation, web objects, scripting and interactivity. Includes developing skills to design and build interactive websites.

ACAD 280 - Designing for Digital Experiences
4 units, 7 sessions (2024 Spring, 2023 Spring, 2022 Spring, 2021 Spring, 2020 Spring, 2019 Spring, 2018 Spring)
[Original Course] Designing elegant and powerful interfaces and experiences for the ways people interact with data, devices, systems and digital environments.

ACAD 362 - Analytics for Health Innovators
4 units, 1 session (2020 Fall)
Theory and methods of health data analytics, including foundational knowledge in statistical methods, data mining, big data applications, visual analytics and physician performance.

ACAD 376 - Discerning and Making I (Industry Practicum)
4 units, 3 sessions (2024 Fall, 2018 Fall, 2017 Fall)
Practicum through which students serve as design strategists for high-profile industry collaborators, and learn advanced methods and processes to solve problems in field-specific environments. Collaborators included the USC Kuhn-Hicks Lab on Cancer Research as well as Group SJR.

ACAD 377 - Discerning and Making II
4 units, 2 sessions (2019 Spring, 2018 Spring)
Advanced application of skills and concepts learned in ACAD 376.

ACAD 450 - Industry and Impact Projects
1 units, 1 session (2022 Fall)
Practicum in which student teams serve as design strategists for industry collaborators; advanced methods and processes to solve problems in collaborative, field-specific environments. Focused on WNDR Museum STEAM education summer programs.

FADN 303 - Web Design
2 units, 2 sessions (2016 Spring, 2015 Fall)
A workshop-based course that focuses on software applications in design and web design.

IDSN 505 - Information Design
0.5 units, 1 session (2018 Fall)
[Original Course] Fully asynchronous mini course focused on information design fundamentals.

IDSN 505 - User Interface
0.5 units, 1 session (2018 Fall)
[Original Course] Fully asynchronous mini course focused on user interface design fundamentals.

IDSN 510 - Integrative Practices Residential
2 units, 1 session (2017 Fall)
One-week campus residential. Introduction to program themes, content, concepts, theories and processes. Opportunity to build skills and meet cohort, with an emphasis on team building.

IDSN 520 - Design Essentials
3 units, 11 sessions (2023 Fall, 2023 Summer, 2022 Spring, 2021 Fall, 2020 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2019 Fall (2), 2018 Fall, 2018 Summer, 2017 Fall)
[Original Course] Overview of design language, process and product. Build fluency in applying core visual principles and design-based problem-solving techniques. Explore historical and contemporary design issues.

IDSN 536 - Designing Networked Objects: From IoT to Smart Environments
3 units, 5 sessions (2023 Fall, 2021 Spring, 2020 Spring, 2019 Fall, 2019 Summer)
[Original Course] Introduction to concepts of interaction design through the medium of physical computing. Students will become familiar with the technological basics of internet telephony, electrical engineering, and computer programming in order to create innovative interactive experiences in physical objects.

IDSN 540 - Processes and Perspectives
4 units, 7 sessions (2021 Fall, 2020 Fall, 2020 Spring, 2019 Fall, 2018 Fall, 2018 Summer, 2017 Fall)
[Original Course] Discipline-specific, cross-disciplinary and shared approaches to products, services, projects, systems, organizational development. Topics include creative and user-focused perspectives, feasibility analytics, lean startup techniques.

IDSN 545 - Integrative Project
3 units, 5 sessions (2024 Summer, 2022 Spring, 2021 Spring, 2018 Fall, 2018 Spring)
Faculty-mentored project. Demonstrate individual and simultaneous skills and competency across fields and within cross-functional, cross-disciplinary teams.

IDSN 599 - Information Design
4 units, 1 session (2024 Spring)
[Original Course] Information design is the practice of transposing large sets of numeric information into visual representations for more immediate understanding, increased legibility from a holistic perspective of the subject matter, and the ability to analyze a subject beyond looking at individual data recordings.

PRIN 505 - Aesthetics of Form II
4 units, 1 session (2021 Fall)
[Redesigned Course] Through case studies and applied learning students gain advanced knowledge in consumer desirability and the functional aspects of virtual and physical form and aesthetic design.

PRIN 516 - Maker Foundation II
2 units, 2 sessions (2021 Fall, 2020 Fall)
[Redesigned Course] Advanced explorations of digital design tools, including industry standard software.

Exhibitions

2014 2013 2011 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005

Publication of Work in Print

2023 2014 2013 2011 2010 2007 2006

Publication of Work on the Web

2023 2022 2017 2016 2013 2011 2008 2007 2006 2005

Awards and Honors

2015 2014 2006 2005 2004

Presentations and Workshops

2024 2023 2022 2021 2015 2014 2012

Juries

2021 2019 2014 2013

References

Professor Dan Hill
Director, Melbourne School of Design
Faculty of Architecture, Building and Planning
The University of Melbourne. Victoria, Australia.
dan.hill@unimelb.edu.au
+61 3 8344 0511

Professor Carlo Ratti
Director, SENSEable City Laboratory
Professor of Urban Technologies
Department of Urban Studies and Planning
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Boston, MA.
ratti@mit.edu
617-253-7926

Professor Mark Hansen
Director, Brown Institute for Media Innovation
Professor of Journalism
Columbia Graduate School of Journalism
Columbia University. New York, NY.
markh@columbia.edu

Professor Casey Reas
Professor of Design Media Arts
School of Arts and Architecture
University of California, Los Angeles. Los Angeles, CA.
reas@reas.com
310-382-6007

Professor Dietmar Offenhuber
Chair, Art + Design Department
Associate Professor Art + Design and Public Policy
College of Arts, Media and Design
Northeastern University. Boston, MA.
d.offenhuber@northeastern.edu