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When Brian Smith says his design-based research encompasses settings beyond the classroom, he means really beyond the classroom: computer-based learning environments projected on the side of a skyscraper, for example.

Last year, when he was a professor of information sciences and senior associate dean for academic affairs at Drexel University, Smith and colleagues trained Philadelphia middle school teachers and students in coding and game design. Eventually, the students鈥攎any of them young women of color鈥攄esigned video games and projected them onto the exterior of downtown Philly鈥檚 29-story Cira Centre office tower.

The skyscraper experiment was just one of many computer-based learning environments Smith has worked on or overseen in his top teaching and administrative roles at Drexel, MIT, the National Science Foundation, the Rhode Island School of Design, and elsewhere. He鈥檚 designed interactive experiences that teach children nutrition concepts; educated university students in parallel programming skills; and helped people with diabetes monitor and manage their conditions, to name a few.

As the Lynch School鈥檚 new associate dean for research, 鈥淚鈥檓 excited to build an infrastructure to help scholars write grants and make connections across disciplines,鈥� says Smith, who is also the new Honorable David S. Nelson Chair, succeeding retired Lynch School Professor Anderson J. Franklin, the Honorable David S. Nelson Professional Chair Emeritus. (The chair鈥檚 namesake, the late Judge David Sutherland Nelson 鈥�57, J.D.鈥�60, H.鈥�79, was the first African American to serve on the Federal District Court of Massachusetts.)

Next year, Smith will begin teaching in and co-directing the Lynch School鈥檚 new M.A. program in Learning Engineering, which prepares educators to design and use learning environments. Smith explains: 鈥淚t鈥檚 taking what we know from the science of learning鈥攖he good, fundamental research, a lot of which is coming out of the Lynch School鈥攁nd, as a designer, using that to build new platforms, new curricula, museum exhibits, after-school programs, and corporate skills trainings.鈥�

The new program is one of the things that drew Smith to the Heights, along with Boston College鈥檚 emphasis on formative education. 鈥淏C鈥檚 always been about social justice,鈥� says Smith, who recently spoke with the first cohort of learning engineering graduates. He was pleased to find that they were landing jobs. But more than that, he said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 obvious they鈥檙e doing this because they want to make a difference, no matter how big or small鈥攈elping people, period.鈥�