MIT Morningside Academy for Design Fellow Zane Schemmer is using his childhood inspiration from the Golden Gate Bridge to create algorithms that improve structural efficiency and reduce carbon footprints in bridges and buildings. In collaboration with Josephine V. Carstensen of MIT, Schemmer's work in discrete topology optimization is advancing environmentally-conscious design, according to  MIT News.

Schemmer, inspired by his childhood awe of the Golden Gate Bridge, focuses on sustainable design processes that reduce embodied carbon—the emissions from material extraction to demolition. His algorithms, presented at the IASS 2024 symposium in Zurich, can cut embodied carbon by up to 20 percent. "The real novelty of our algorithm is its ability to consider multiple materials in a highly constrained solution space to produce manufacturable designs with a user-specified force flow," Schemmer explained. This approach bridges the gap between theoretical optimization and practical, real-world design, as stated by MIT News. 

Schemmer's work focuses on optimizing designs for structures like steel towers and hybrid buildings with timber to reduce carbon emissions. His approach adjusts designs based on the carbon footprint of steel, which can vary by location. "This is why using the same steel in two different parts of the world can lead to two different optimized designs," Schemmer said. With a strong educational background from UC Berkeley and MIT, he combines engineering and architectural creativity to shape sustainable, strong future buildings, supported by the Morningside Academy for Design Fellowship at MIT, as reported by MIT News.