Prof. Dr. Kathrin Dörfler
Kathrin is an architect, researcher, and educator in computational design and robotic fabrication. She has a Master’s degree in Architecture from TU Vienna and a Ph.D. in Digital Fabrication from ETH Zurich. Together with Romana Rust, she co-founded the architectural research studio dorfundrust. Kathrin’s doctoral thesis was carried out at Gramazio Kohler Research, ETH Zurich, as part of the National Centre of Competence in Research Digital Fabrication (NCCR DFAB). Her thesis Strategies for Robotic In situ Fabrication was developed in close collaboration with robotics scientists. It conceived methods for using robots for fabrication not only in laboratory environments but directly on construction sites, in combination with architectural design strategies for such robot-made structures. In 2019, Kathrin joined the TUM School of Engineering and Design (TUM SoED) at the Technical University of Munich as a Tenure Track Professor to set up a research group for Digital Fabrication at the Department of Architecture. The research interests of her group lie at the interface between computational design and robotic fabrication, focusing on collaborative fabrication processes, on-site robotics, and fabrication-aware design. In addition to research, Kathrin has taught in Vienna, Zurich, and Munich in Architecture programs as well as in specialized postgraduate programs in Architecture and Digital Fabrication (MAS DFAB ETH Zurich).