Utility Research Lab

Utility Research Lab Description

utility research lab

The Utility Research Lab, directed by Michael Rivera,  invents and investigates digital manufacturing technology, tools, and techniques. The lab’s research combines computational fabrication, materials science, and sustainable design practices. Our goal is to advance science and engineering while positively impacting people, society, and the environment. More information about the lab can be found on the lab website linked below. For inquiries, please email: utilityresearchlab@gmail.com

   Utility Research Lab website 

Utility Research Lab News

Utility Research Lab Projects

Desktop Biofiber Spinning Machine: Smart Textiles Design
3D Printing Spent Coffee Grounds
3D Printed Multi-point Capacitive Touch Sensing

Utility Research Lab Director

Utility Research Lab Members

Utility Research Lab Alumni

Utility Research Lab Publications

Krithik Ranjan, Peter Gyory, Seneca Howell, Therese Stewart, Michael L. Rivera, Ellen Yi-Luen Do. 2025. “Cartoonimator: A Paper-based Tangible Kit for Keyframe Animation”. In: TEI '25: Proceedings of the Nineteenth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction. (Bordeaux/Talence, France, March 4 - 7, 2025).
 

Xin Wen, S. Sandra Bae, Michael L. Rivera. 2025. “Enabling Recycling of Multi-Material 3D Printed Objects through Computational Design and Disassembly by Dissolution”. In: CHI '25: Proceedings of the 2025 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. (Yokohama, Japan; April 26 - May 1, 2025).

Xin Wen, Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, and Michael L. Rivera. 2024. "Exploring a Software Tool for Biofibers Design". In: Adjunct Proceedings of the 37th Annual ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST Adjunct '24). (Pittsburgh, PA, October 13-16, 2024).

Eldy S. Lazaro Vasquez, Mirela Alistar, Laura Devendorf, and Michael L. Rivera. 2024. Desktop Biofibers Spinning: An Open-Source Machine for Exploring Biobased Fibers and Their Application Towards Sustainable Smart Textile Design. In: Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI ’24), (Honolulu, HI, May 11–16, 2024).

S. Sandra Bae, Takanori Fujiwara, Anders Ynnerman, Ellen Yi-Luen Do, Michael L. Rivera, Danielle Albers Szafir. 2023. "A Computational Design Pipeline to Fabricate Sensing Network Physicalizations". In: IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics (October 2023).

Michael L. Rivera, S. Sandra Bae, Scott E. Hudson. 2023. “Designing a Sustainable Material for 3D Printing with Spent Coffee Grounds”. In: Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’23) (Pittsburgh, PA, July 10–14, 2023).

Krithik Ranjan, Peter Gyory, Michael L. Rivera, Ellen Yi-Luen Do. 2023. “Cartoonimator: A Low-cost, Paper-based Animation Kit for Computational Thinking”. In: Proceedings of the 22nd Annual ACM Interaction Design and Children Conference (IDC '23) (Chicago, IL, June 19-23, 2023).