Derek Ham

Derek Ham is the Director of Carnegie Mellon’s Entertainment Technology Center. He is an award-winning VR director, design educator, and immersive storyteller. Trained as an architect, he earned his PhD in Design Computation from MIT, a master’s in architecture from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design, and a Bachelor of Architecture from Hampton University. In his research, he continues to investigate both virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) technology to find ways these tools can expand the way we work, play, and learn. His most notable projects “I Am A Man” and “Barnstormers: Determined to Win” both share a special focus on the use of virtual reality as a tool for the empathetic storytelling of African American history. As Director of the ETC he works with interdisciplinary teams across diverse backgrounds: game design, location based entertainment, and robotics in what he calls an “undisciplined” design approach, a frame of thinking that breaks down traditional rules.