Ganapathy Mahalingam

Dr. Mahalingam is a registered architect in India, who also has over 30 years of experience in the field of computer- aided architectural design and has served as the President of the Association for Computer-aided Design in Architecture (ACADIA). Dr. Mahalingam has completed significant research for his doctoral degree and added an original body of knowledge to the architectural profession, which involved the creation of software for the design of proscenium-type auditoriums based on object-oriented computing technology.

Ask Me

Who are your role models or inspiring folks?

In the field of Computer Science, it was Alan Kay, who had a significant impact on my doctoral work and my development of technologies for computer-aided architectural design. In Philosophy, it was the ancient Indian philosopher, Adi Shankaracharya, who continues to be an influence and a spiritual guide. In Architecture, Louis Kahn and Tadao Ando led me to appreciate the mysteries of light. In Music, Bach, Schubert, Pink Floyd, Weather Report, the Beatles and Pandit Jasraj, lifted my spirit. In Art, the painters Kandinsky, Klee, and Miro set the poetic undertones for my approach to art. In Poetry, the lyrical poets, Wordsworth, Tennyson, Longfellow, and Shelley, gave me my sense of cadence and rhyme. Overall, in all my pursuits, I was blessed with the tenacity and love I imbibed from my parents.

Outside of art and design fields, what inspires you?

Philosophy has been a lifelong interest of mine, along with the multiplicity of creative vision that spills over from Architecture, Art, Music, and Poetry. For my constant tinkering, Computation has made me sharp and fruitfully occupied.

What do you wish you had known when you started out as a student/in this field?

I wish I had known how things of value are decided in Architecture.

What was your most memorable meal?

We were on a bus tour of North Dakota for new faculty members at NDSU, when we stopped at a casino on an Indian reservation. There we had one of the most memorable buffet meals that casinos are often famous for providing. The process of discovering North Dakota, and the hunger it creates, made the meal very memorable.

In your office, you can only have three things, one book, one tool, and one picture. What would they be and why?

It would be the book Atmabodha by Shankaracharya, my Pilot V5 fine point pen, and the proverbial blank sheet of paper, to drift off into dreamscapes.

The computational modeling of architectural entities and processes.

Full-spectrum computer-aided architectural design (3D modeling, BIM, Simulation).

The design thesis as a vehicle of inquiry in Architecture.

The algorithmic auditorium - computational modeling of auditorium design as a computable process.

Generative AI systems

Agentic AI systems

1. Advanced Architectural Design (Architectural Research Studio) (ARCH 771)
2. Design Thesis (ARCH 772)
3. Professional Topics Seminar: Is architectural design computable? (ARCH 789)
4. Professional Topics Seminar: The Acoustical Experience of Spaces (ARCH 789)
5. Professional Topics Seminar: The Vastu Shastra: the ancient treatises on Architecture from India – an in-depth study (ARCH 789)

1. Paper titled, "Designing Appropriate Housing: A Computer-Based Participatory Design System," co-authored with Dr. Mary Joyce Hasell, published in the proceedings of the Fourth Annual Rinker International Conference On Building Construction held at the University of Florida in August, 1993.

2. Paper titled, "Designing Appropriate Housing: A Computer-Based Participatory Design System," co-authored with Dr. Mary Joyce Hasell, accepted for the annual conference of the Interior Design Educators Council, 1993.

Recent Grants

1. Awarded an EDRF grant of $8131 at NDSU through the Great Plains I-Corps Hub Minimum Viable Product EDRF Program in 2024.
2. Awarded an Undergraduate Biomedical Research grant of $5635 from the INBRE program of the National Institute of Health in August 2022.
3. Awarded a grant of $5000 from the Dakota Digital Academy to teach a course on the Development of an Android App for the Design Professions, March 2022.
4. Awarded a grant of $3948 from the Gunlogson Fund of the Institute of Regional Studies to develop a publication on, The History of the East Indian Diaspora in the FM Area. 2021.
5. Awarded an ND EPSCoR STEM Research and Education grant titled, Biosensing Equipment for Responses to Built Environments, of $9000 for the acquisition of brain-computer interface (BCI) equipment to conduct research projects in the biosensing of inhabitants of built environments, October 2019.

Awarded the Faculty Creativity Award in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at North Dakota State University for 2021.

Awarded the Outstanding Teaching Award in the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at North Dakota State University for 2020.

Selected as a Faculty Fellow in the Nice Center at North Dakota State University in August 2020.

Selected as a Faculty Fellow in the first cohort of Faculty Fellows of the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth at North Dakota State University in November 2019.

Special Mention Award at the fifth annual Architizer A+Awards, in the Apps and Digital Tools category for the Auditorium Design System app in 2017.

Walter B. Booth College Excellence Fund Award from the College of Engineering & Architecture at North Dakota State University in 2001.

One of the team leaders in a research team that won one of the First Annual Awards for Architectural Research presented by the Progressive Architecture magazine in 1994 for the project "Listening to Buildings."

Member, Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA)