Heather Barker
Heather Renée Barker, Professor of Design at is a human urbanist. She works with interdisciplinary teams to facilitate human-centered approaches to improving the human/data hybrid experience. By leveraging a range of analog and digital tools, gamification, and data-visualization, Heather brings value to business and civic organizations as they develop novel solutions to personal interface, animated space, community engagement, and sustainable urban challenges. As an educator and practitioner, she is able to combine theory, rigorous research, and practice to develop advanced innovation methodologies. This work makes its way into the world through consulting, holding workshops, publishing, teaching, and advising internationally. Heather Barker is founding director of the graduate Human Experience Design Interactions (MA_HXDI) program and the Immersive Design Research Lab (IDRL), author of the book, . She serves the city of Long Beach, California, Developing a and previously as Design Lead for the Bloomberg Philanthropies’ funded Innovation Team (i-team) and Design Strategy Lead for the Office of Civic Innovation. Professor Barker's current professional service includes Higher Education Outreach Director on the Board of the non-profit,
Current and Selected Councils / Working Groups
- National Science Foundation (NSF) Ad-Hoc Reviewer
- CSU Office of the Chancellor Innovation Advisory Council
- CSU + Adobe Advisory Council
- Institutional and Program Assessment Council (IPAC)
- Program Strategic Innovation Facilitation, Director - Beach 2030, Grand Challenges
- Chair, International Education Committee (IEC)
- Vice Chair University Resources Council (URC)
- College of the Arts Graduate Advisors Committee
- Cinematic Arts RTP Committee
- Department Curriculum Committee
Southern California Institute of Architecture (SCI-Arc)
Metropolitan Research + Design (Emergent Systems, Data, Tech., and Media)
M. Arch. (second professional, terminal degree)
Master of Architecture - with distinction
Art Academy of Munich (ADBK)
Post-Graduate Studies (Materiality, Structure and Transparency)
Masterclass Architektur, w/Professor Otto Steidle)
Technical University of Munich (TUM)
International Studies in Architecture
Fakultät für Architektur, w/Professor Uwe Keissler
University of Cincinnati (DAAP)
Design Architecture Art and Planning
B.Arch. (first professional degree)
Bachelor of Architecture
Research Premise - Cities, technologies, and humans are contextual and complex; researching the interactions among them discovers new cyber-physical opportunities, develops new methodologies for optimization, designs tools and systems for the future, and delivers value by creating an enhanced human experience.
Research Platform, Founding Director and Principal Investigator - Immersive Design Research Lab (IDRL)* [Includes fundraising, grant writing, partnership development, hiring and guiding student researchers, and annual reporting].
Immersive Design Research Lab (IDRL) Mission: Responding to the need for active design research as critical to design practice, The Immersive Design Research Lab (IDRL) at Cal State Long Beach engages in a continuous program of interdisciplinary projects taking on the challenges of sustainability, urbanism, technology, and human value in high- and low-tech participatory environments. At the core of this active research is the changing human experience at the intersection of technology and space. The IDRL provides the foundation to create value through the catalytic action of creative endeavors, innovative teaching, and engaged service to the community as collaborative partners with visionary people and organizations. - /design/immersive-design-research-lab
Monograph (Book)
‘Designing Post-Virtual Architectures: Wicked Tactics and World Building’. Published by Routledge, New York and London, by Heather Renée Barker. ISBN 13: 978-1138639966 © 2020
Book Chapters
- “The University Library as Digital Humanities Hub: CITE Program – Research and Instruction with Extended Realities (XR)” for ‘Digital Transformation in Academic Libraries for Research and Learning’ by Heather Renée Barker with Christiane Beyer; Published by World Scientific. ISBN 13: 978-981-98-1630-9. Dec. 2025. Hema Ramachandran and Nicollette Brant, editors
- “The (autopoietic) Architecture Machine – and the divine Generalist” by Heather Renée Barker for ‘Blur: d3:dialog’. Published by the International Journal of Architecture + Design Vol. I. ISBN 13: 978-0692740781. June 2016. Gregory Marinic and Alexis Gregory, editors
Selected Awards
- CSU Adobe Fostering Digital Literacy
CBA Service to Students
Impact Accomplishment of the Year in Research, Scholarly & Creative Activity
- City of Long Beach Academic and Research Civic Innovation Award
Selected Donations, Proposal-Driven Funding
$ 50,000. ‘Beach 2030’ Project Award – “ON-CITE” Downtown University Workshops (pending)
$ 94,000. University Creative Immersive Technology Experience Workshops (CITE) program
$505,000. Proposal-driven funding as Interim Chair for the Department of Design
$138,500. in donations from Nissan Design America, Krinner Ground Screws US, Gossamer Space Frames, Intel, and Pando
$10,000. University ORSP internal competitive grant award
$28,000 College-funded research support
$16,000 University and college awards for student researchers
$ 5,500 CSU Adobe Innovation
