John Fernández

MIT class of 1985, I have been a member of the MIT faculty since 1999. I am currently the Director of the MIT Environmental Solutions Initiative, former Director of the Building Technology Program in the Department of Architecture, and the International Design Center. I am also the Director of the Urban Metabolism Group, a research group examining the resource intensity of cities and pathways for a low carbon urban future using drones, machine learning and system dynamics.
 
I am passionate about supporting and advocating for the Baker community, our GRAs, the building staff and alumni. I have extensive knowledge of how MIT works having served many years on a number of MIT committees including the Committee on Undergraduate Admissions and Financial Aid, the Committee on the Undergraduate Program, the ROTC Oversight committee, the Committee on the Innovation Initiative, the Faculty Policy Committee, and currently serving as Chair of DAPER. I have also served on various special groups and task forces including Task Force 2021, the Covid Monitoring Team, the subcommittee on the Implementation of the Recommendations of the Task Force on the Undergraduate Educational Commons, the Working Group on the Future of Teaching and Learning Spaces at MIT, the School of Architecture and Planning Dean’s Diversity Committee, the Dean’s Energy and Environment Council, the Campus Sustainability Task Force, the MIT Materials and Waste Management Working Group, and the Metropolitan Warehouse Advisory Group.
 
As a researcher with more than 100 UROP alumni of the Urban Metabolism Group and the ESI’s Rapid Response Group, I also have startup experience through DesignX and MIT Sandbox. I am a practicing architect in the US and abroad; I have been designer of more than 2.5 million square feet of new construction since completing graduate work at the School of Architecture at Princeton University.
 
I am also a classical pianist, a watercolorist and an enthusiastic, and sometimes reckless snowboarder.

Connect with John via email at fernande@mit.edu.