Dr. Karabi Bezboruah

Associate Dean for Faculty Success and Research

As we celebrate the first anniversary of the CAPPA Faculty Success and Research Digest, I am filled with gratitude and excitement for what this initiative has grown to represent. When we launched the Digest in April 2025 in collaboration with CAPPA Communications, our goal was simple yet ambitious: to create a space that consistently highlights the remarkable accomplishments of our faculty while connecting them with opportunities that advance their research, enrich their teaching, and support their professional journeys.

One year later, this community‑driven effort has become so much more. Month after month, your achievements—your grants, publications, creative works, awards, partnerships, and innovations—have shown the depth of talent and dedication across CAPPA. The Digest has become a living record of your impact. In this place, we celebrate not only individual success but the collective strength of a college committed to shaping more just, sustainable, and resilient communities.

What inspires me most is the spirit of collaboration that continues to grow. Each story shared, each opportunity highlighted, and each initiative launched reflects a culture where faculty support one another, learn from one another, and push the boundaries of what is possible together. This culture is the foundation of faculty success, and we will continue to foster it intentionally in the years ahead.

As we look forward, I encourage every one of you to stay engaged:

Let’s make the coming year one of bold ideas, meaningful partnerships, and continued celebration of the extraordinary work you do!

Our Spring 2026 Graduate Hooding Ceremony was a meaningful celebration of hard work, perseverance, and personal growth. As we reflect on this special occasion, we are immensely proud of the Class of 2026 and the dedication they demonstrated throughout their academic journeys. This spring, CAPPA proudly celebrated 136 undergraduates, 55 graduates, and 2 doctoral students and awarded 710 certificates to students who completed their degrees. The ceremony was more than a recognition of academic milestones. It honored the resilience, relationships, and unwavering commitment that carried each graduate to this moment of achievement.

What made this celebration especially powerful was the presence and partnership of our faculty. At CAPPA, teaching goes beyond the classroom. It is a calling rooted in mentorship, curiosity, and the belief that every student has the potential to shape a better world. Faculty members were proud to sit alongside their students, celebrating their accomplishments and the shared mentorship that shaped their success. Surrounded by faculty, family, and peers, our graduates crossed a critical threshold, ready to lead, serve, and make a lasting impact in their fields.

As part of Spring 2026 commencement registration, graduated CAPPA students were invited to recognize faculty who made a meaningful difference during their time at UTA. Many students took that opportunity to reflect—not only on what they learned, but on who helped them persist, grow, and succeed.

Across programs and disciplines, student comments highlighted a shared theme: meaningful mentorship. Graduates consistently recognized CAPPA faculty for creating learning environments that were rigorous yet supportive, and for investing in students as individuals at critical moments in their academic journeys. These reflections reveal something essential about CAPPA’s culture: our faculty do more than teach—they guide forward, open doors, and help students imagine futures they once thought were out of reach.

Together, these recognitions underscore the collective impact of CAPPA’s faculty, whose guidance often extends beyond formal roles and responsibilities. Whether through studio mentorship, thoughtful critique, research collaboration, or day‑to‑day support, students credited CAPPA’s community with helping them navigate challenges, build confidence, and discover their voice as emerging professionals.

To see the list of faculty and staff recognized by graduated CAPPA students, check here!

CAPPA Faculty Mentoring Program

The CAPPA Faculty Mentoring Program is designed to support and foster the professional development of its faculty members. Whether you are a new faculty member navigating your early years in academia or an experienced educator seeking to deepen your impact, this program offers personalized guidance, collaborative learning, and the opportunity to connect with faculty across CAPPA disciplines.

Program Goals: The primary goals of the program are to:

Who Can Participate:

Pairing Process: Mentees will be paired with mentors based on shared academic interests, career goals, or areas of expertise. Faculty members will also have the option to express preferences in mentor pairing.

How to Get Involved: To participate as a mentor or mentee or learn more about the CAPPA Faculty Mentoring Program, please contact Dr. Karabi Bezboruah, CAPPA Associate Dean of Faculty Success and Research, at bezborua@uta.edu by Friday, June 19.

CAPPA is pleased to announce the recipients of the Fall 2026 CAPPA Seed Grant Program. This year’s awards recognize innovative research, community partnership, and interdisciplinary collaboration across the college.

The Geisel Grant for Community Impact supports projects that address challenging issues that impact our local and regional communities, particularly those affecting underserved communities.

The CAPPA Dean’s Interdisciplinary Initiative Award promotes CAPPA’s interdisciplinary collaboration in research by supporting innovative projects with the potential to pursue external research funding opportunities in the near future.

Congratulations to the award recipients whose work reflects CAPPA’s commitment to impactful scholarship and meaningful engagement with the communities we serve.

Farshid Torabian, Assistant Professor of Practice, Landscape Architecture, and Malini Roy, Assistant Professor of Planning, were awarded for the project titled “Heat-Safe Elementary School Frontages in Lewisville, Texas: Microclimate Analysis and a Cooling Playbook for City and School Action.”

Nubras Samayeen, Assistant Professor, Architecture; Malini Roy, Assistant Professor, Planning; Xueyin (Shay) Bai, Assistant Professor of Practice, Landscape Architecture & Planning; and Farshid Torabian, Assistant Professor of Practice, Landscape Architecture, were awarded for their project titled “Crafting Publicness in Arlington, Texas.”

Dr. Barbara Marini, Director and Associate Professor of Interior Design, and Prof. Arden Stephenson, Assistant Professor of Practice in Interior Design, presented their poster, “Creating a Cultural Experience through Community Engagement,” at the 2026 Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) Annual Conference hosted at Columbia College Chicago. Their work highlights the transformative role of community‑centered collaboration in shaping meaningful cultural experiences within interior design education and practice.

Additionally, Dr. Marini received the prestigious Keith Hooks Volunteer Excellence Award, which recognizes her outstanding contributions to the Council for Interior Design Accreditation (CIDA) and to interior design higher education. With more than 120 educators and practitioners volunteering with CIDA, the award is presented to only one individual each year—underscoring the significance of this honor and Dr. Marini's impact on the profession. Read More.

CAPPA proudly celebrates Dr. Taner R. Özdil, Associate Professor of Landscape Architecture, on his elevation to the 2026 Council of Fellows by the American Society of Landscape Architects (ASLA)—one of the highest honors bestowed by the profession. Recognized for his exceptional contributions to landscape architecture and society at large, Dr. Özdil joins an esteemed group of professionals whose work has significantly advanced the field through leadership and management, knowledge, and service. Read More.

On April 24, 2026, CAPPA’s Architectural Robotic Construction Lab (ARC Lab) opened its doors to an audience of campus leaders and supporters for a landmark demonstration of its large‑scale 3D‑printing technology. A moment that underscored the college’s growing influence in innovation and applied research. UTA President Dr. Jennifer Cowley, CAPPA Dean Dr. Ming‑Han Li, and esteemed alumnus H. Ralph Hawkins were among those in attendance, celebrating a breakthrough made possible by Hawkins’ visionary support. Read More.

Dr. Shermeen Yousif, Associate Professor of Architecture, joined the 2026 Structure and Computer‑Based Design Lecture Series hosted by the Universität Innsbruck, presenting her latest research on rethinking AI’s role in architecture. This series is widely recognized as a leading platform for advancing discourse on AI in architecture.

In her talk, “Designing for a Post-AI Discipline: Agency, Orchestration, and Performative AI in Architecture,” Dr. Yousif reframed AI not as a representational instrument, but as a co‑creative epistemic partner. See More.

Advancing Design Through Robotic and Additive Fabrication

We are pleased to congratulate Dr. Mahmoud Bayat, Assistant Professor of Architecture, for the publication of his research team's newest paper, "Advancing Architectural Design Through 3D Printing and Robotic Fabrication Technologies," with the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI).

This review examines the integration of 3D printing and robotic fabrication technologies in architectural design and construction, focusing on overcoming current limitations in scalability, reinforcement, process control, and digital-to-fabrication workflows. The paper also discusses interdisciplinary challenges, sustainability implications, and future directions for large-scale implementation of robotic additive manufacturing in the built environment.

The work was supported in part by the Undergraduate Research Opportunity Program (UROP) at UTA, and it reflects the group's broader research efforts in digital fabrication, computational design, additive manufacturing, and resilient architectural systems. Through this program, Vi Hoang, a Bachelor of Architecture student, was funded as an undergraduate researcher working under Dr. Bayat’s supervision. The program also provided him $500 in materials support.

This message is a final call to enroll in the ACUE mini-course, Effective Teaching 101 (ET 101). The course takes only 3-5 hours to complete, is self-paced and asynchronous, and is available online on Canvas.

There are about 9 spots available! 

Once enrolled, the deadline to complete the course is June 30, 2026.

Reasons to take ET 101: 

Join the May AI Community of Practice session, Prompt and Practice, on Wednesday, May 27, to build practical prompting skills for more effective AI use. Participants will explore real examples, practice crafting their own prompts, and learn techniques they can apply in tools like Copilot to improve accuracy, clarity, and impact.

Do you have news, publications, research, awards, and announcements to SHARE? Fill out the form below!

The newsletter will be taking a short break in June and July, and our next edition will arrive in August. We look forward to starting a new semester with a special issue featuring continued exciting updates from across CAPPA.

Karabi Bezboruah, Ph.D., Professor and Associate Dean for Faculty Success and Research

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