Gibbs College Interior Design professors, Dr. Suchi Bhattacharjee and Dr. Yeji Yi, as well as PhD. Student Abrar Talal Alhamadi, have been awarded the 2025 Irene Winifred Eno Grant from the American Society of Interior Design Foundation. The grant will support their project “Artificial Intelligence Assisted Design for Independent Living.”
An interdisciplinary team of researchers from the University of Oklahoma Norman (OU Norman) and OU Health, including Interior Design professors, has published their study in the journal Virtual Reality.
On April 18, 2025, the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture hosted its annual Graduate Student Showcase, a celebration of research, design innovation, and creative exploration across all graduate programs within the College. The event transformed Gould Hall into a vibrant exhibition of ideas where students shared their work with faculty, peers, and the broader community.
Interior Design assistant professor, Dr. Yeji Yi, has been granted funding through OU’s Faculty Investment Program. This funding supports her project “Development of Interactive Virtual Reality Multi-Sensory Environments: Participatory Research.” The project seeks to integrate Virtual Reality (VR) technology to analyze stakeholders’ needs and develop interactive VR Multi-Sensory Environments. These environments are specifically designed to be usable for neurodivergent individuals.
Interior Design student Naila Hasan recently presented her research at the 2023 Interior Design Educators Council Southwest Regional Conference, where she received the award for Best Poster Presenter. Hasan presented the results from her recent study, The Relationship Between Natural Lighting and Biophilic Elements and Children’s Behaviors, co-authored by Yeji Yi, assistant professor of Interior Design.
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OU Interior Design Faculty recently presented at the Environmental Design Research Association’s 54th Annual Mexico City Conference. Professors of Interior Design Dawn Loraas and Yeji Yi both attended the conference and shared their research findings.
Freshman Interior Design students recently visited Rivermont Independent Living in Norman, OK as a part of their studio course. 36 students attended the trip, joined by Professors of Interior Design Dr. Suchismita Bhattacharjee and Dr. Yeji Yi and graduate teaching assistant Naila Hasan.
Professors of Interior Design Dr. Suchismita Bhattacharjee and Dr. Yeji Yi and graduate student Azra Fific presented at the I.D.E.A. symposium, hosted by OU’s Division of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Dr. Bhattacharjee and Dr. Yi presented their teaching experience, “Universal Design in Architecture." Fific presented her project “Refugees and Placemaking: Healing Trauma Through Interior Design.”
Through a new seed funding opportunity supported by the OU Norman Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships, the OU Health Sciences Center Vice President for Research and the Christopher C. Gibbs College of Architecture, two teams will each receive up to $30,000 to support interdisciplinary research at the intersection of health, well-being, and the built environment.
