Angelica Paiva Ponzio
Professor Angelica Paiva Ponzio is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Architecture and in the Graduate Program in Architecture (PROPAR) at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Brazil, where she has taught since 1994. She holds a Master’s degree in Advanced Architectural Design from GSAPP, Columbia University (New York), and a PhD in History, Theory, and Criticism of Architecture from PROPAR/UFRGS, with a research period at Politecnico di Milano funded by CAPES. In 2024, she was a Visiting Professor at the Bartlett School of Architecture (UCL) through a PVE/PRINT/CAPES grant to study the use of AI in design processes, during which she conducted workshops both at the Bartlett and at the Kingston School of Design.
She coordinates BIMCell/UFRGS, a research and extension initiative affiliated with the Brazilian Association for Technology in the Built Environment (ANTAC). She is a member of the Scientific Committee of SIGraDi and contributes actively to the international DigitalFutures community. Professor Ponzio is also a recognized specialist on the Italian architect Gio Ponti, having collaborated on major international exhibitions at the Musée des Arts Décoratifs (Paris) and the MAXXI (Rome).
Her current research focuses on the development of creative methodologies in architecture and interior theories, with an emphasis on reflective practice and the integration of analog and digital media. She explores the intersections between digital and computational workflows — including BIM, parametric design, digital fabrication, and generative AI — with particular attention to authorship, agency, and AI literacy in architectural education.
David Ochi
David Ochi is a seasoned entrepreneur who has founded over a dozen companies all around the world and across multiple sectors such as fashion, technology, international distribution, startup incubation, cleantech, biotech, mobile, social media, and education. He launched Disney Consumer Products in Viet Nam, was the founding Executive Director of the ANTrepreneur Center at UC Irvine, and is the co-founder and CEO of V1 Ventures, a health sciences & technology acceleration firm focused on exponentially growing scale-ups by facilitating rapid international expansion into global territories. He is currently the Executive Director of the Incubator at CSU Dominguez Hills, where he fosters entrepreneurial mindset and skills among diverse students to impact intergenerational wealth in their communities. He has created programming empowering every student at CSUDH to launch and run a profitable side hustle small business so they will be able to graduate without the burdens of student debt by the class of 2030. He is co-founder of the Skystart Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to expanding this program nationwide so that every student in America can graduate without student debt. He is also an adjunct faculty member and the Program Director of a new product design competition at the University of California, Irvine.
David Ochi holds an MBA from the Paul Merage School of Business at the University of California, Irvine (1999), where he had previously earned both a BA in Political Science from the School of Social Sciences and a BS in Biological Science from the School of Biological Sciences (1997). He later pursued advanced studies at the Keller Graduate School of Management, completing a Master’s degree in Project Management in 2008.
Paulete Fridman Schwetz
Paulete Fridman Schwetz holds a degree in Civil Engineering from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS, 1983), a Master’s degree in Civil Engineering from UFRGS (2005), and a PhD in Civil Engineering from UFRGS (2011). She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Design and Graphic Expression at the Faculty of Architecture of UFRGS and in the Graduate Program in Design (PGDesign). She previously worked as a structural researcher at the Structural Models Testing Laboratory (LEME) at UFRGS and teaches in specialization and extension programs at the Faculty of Architecture. She also served as a professor for the Brazilian Open University, contributing to distance-learning specialization courses in Instrumental Informatics for Basic Education teachers.
She coordinates research in the field of Educational Design, aimed at developing distance-learning courses for the teaching of computational tools. Currently, she is a member of the UFRGS team in the MADiT project (Mobility in Art and Design in Teacher Education), a postgraduate mobility initiative launched in 2022 by the Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL) in collaboration with The Catholic University of America (CUA). She also serves as Coordinator of the Educational Design Center of SEAD/UFRGS and has been appointed as a member of the Steering Committee for the Institutional Moodle Virtual Learning Environment at UFRGS.
Rodrigo Dalla Vecchia
Rodrigo Dalla Vecchia holds a degree in Mathematics – Licenciatura Plena from Universidade Luterana do Brasil (2002), a Master’s degree in Mathematics from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (2005), and a PhD in Mathematics Education from São Paulo State University “Júlio de Mesquita Filho” (UNESP), Rio Claro campus, with the dissertation Mathematical Modeling and the Reality of the Cyber World. He is currently a postdoctoral researcher in the field of Implementing Technologies Associated with the Concepts of Industry 4.0 at the Graduate Program in Production Engineering at UFRGS, where he also teaches in the specialization program in Industry 4.0.
His research focuses on Technologies, with an emphasis on Artificial Intelligence, Mathematical Modeling, Information and Communication Technologies, Big Data, and Industry 4.0. In his current journey, he is also part of EvcomX, contributing to initiatives in Digital Transformation and data intelligence, in synergy with academia and innovation ecosystems.
Stella Sapper leads Crialab, the creativity lab at Tecnopuc, PUCRS’ Science and Technology Park, where she coordinates corporate innovation project teams in partnership with companies and institutions from various sectors. Her work integrates applied research, methodological development, and strategy design across different project scopes, with an emphasis on co-creation practices, open innovation, and internal innovation. She holds a degree in Fashion Design from the State University of Santa Catarina (UDESC) and both a master’s and a doctorate in Design Technology from UFRGS.
She has over twelve years of teaching experience in undergraduate programs in Graphic, Product, and Fashion Design. She is currently a guest professor in the Postgraduate Program in Graphic Design at UFRGS, where she teaches courses focused on design methodologies and techniques that stimulate creative thinking. At Tecnopuc, she has led collaborative projects with organizations such as Banrisul, Unimed, Unicred, Digicon, and HP, coordinating multidisciplinary teams in the implementation of research and design processes aimed at generating strategic value. Her expertise lies in managing complex projects and applying design methodologies in various contexts, including design thinking, service design, and organizational innovation. Her main areas of expertise include project management, strategic design, user experience, open innovation, internal innovation, and design methodologies.
