wes mcgee
Associate Professor in Architecture
Wes McGee explores the integration of advanced manufacturing technologies with design driven workflows and his research revolves around the interrogation of the means and methods of material production in architecture, focusing on developing new connections between design, engineering, materials, and manufacturing processes as they relate to the built environment. He is known for his expertise in connecting the domains of design and fabrication, particularly in the application of CNC and industrial robotic tools to architectural production and through this he and his collaborators explore new and forgotten techniques across a range of scales and materials, with the goal of creating knowledge which informs our collective understanding of designing and making.
Wes is Co-founder and Partner at Matter Design, an award-winning design and research collective based in Boston, MA. He received a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and a Master of Industrial Design, both from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and is currently an associate professor and the director of the Fabrication and Robotics Lab at the Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning, has an appointment in the department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and is an affiliate in the Robotics Institute, all at the University of Michigan. His work has been recognized with awards such as the Architectural League Prize for Young Architects & Designers, the ACADIA Award for Innovative Research, multiple Design Biennial Boston Awards, and multiple Architect Magazine R+D awards. McGee has also taught workshops and master classes across the US, Europe, the Middle East, and in Australia. He presents and publishes extensively in books, periodicals, conferences, and peer-reviewed journals and continues to collaborate widely with a broad range of architects, engineers, and artists.
Projects
Publications
Books, Edited
McGee, Wesley and Monica Ponce de Leon. Robotic Fabrication in Architecture, Art, and Design. Springer Engineering, 2014.
Books, Self Published
Clifford, Brandon and Wesley McGee. Range: Matter Design. ODDI Printing, 2013.
Journal Articles, Peer Reviewed
Zhu, He, Kequan Yu, Wes McGee, Tsz Yan Ng, Victor C. Li. Development of 3D-Printable ECC using Limestone Calcined Clay Cement. Journal of the American Concrete Institute, 2021.
Li, Victor C., Freek Bos, Kequan Yu, Wes McGee, Tsz Yan Ng, Stephan Chavez Figueiredo, et al. On the emergence of 3D printable Engineered, Strain Hardening Cementitious Composites (ECC/SHCC). Cement and Concrete Research, 132, 2020.
Liang, Ci-Jyun, Kurt Lundeen, Wes McGee, Carol Menassa, Sanghyun Lee, and Vineet Kamat. “A vision-based marker-less pose estimation system for articulated construction robots.” Automation in Construction, vol. 104, 2019, pp. 80-94.
Lundeen, Kurt, Vineet Kamat, Carol Menassa, and Wes McGee. “Autonomous motion planning and task execution in geometrically adaptive robotized construction work.” Automation in Construction, vol. 100, 2019, pp. 24-45.
Tish, Dan and Wesley McGee, Tim Schork, Geoffrey Thun, Kathy Velikov. “Case Studies in Topological Design and Optimization of Additively Manufactured Cable-Nets.” Structures, vol 18, pp. 83-90.
Academic Conference Papers
Liang, C.J., Wes McGee, Carol Menassa and Vineet Kamat. Bi-Directional Communication Bridge for State Synchronization between Digital Twin Simulations and Physical Construction Robots. ISARC 2020.
Bruce Mackenzie, Gabrielle Clune, Wes McGee, Tsz Yan Ng, et al. Form[less]: Robotically Thermoformed Molds for Concrete Casting. ACADIA 2020: Distributed Proximities. 2020.
Newell, Cathlyn, Zackery Belanger, Wes McGee, and Misri Patel. Unknowing. ACADIA 2020: Distributed Proximities. 2020.
He, Jinhui, X. Cao, Tsz Yan Ng, & Wes McGee. Precarious Stand. Project Proceedings, ACADIA, 2019 (pp. 362–363)
Courses
ARCH 509 – Advanced Robotics
ARCH 571 – Advanced Digital Fabrication
ARCH 702 – Robotic Engagement