Romano Ian is currently a Visiting Scholar at Carleton University in Ottawa, teaching courses as part of the Urbanism stream.

Previously, he was both a Designer and Data+Computation Coordinator at Skidmore, Owings and Merrill (SOM) in Chicago, IL. Where he pursued advancements in how technology is used to design and analyze complex urban spaces. His projects ranged from large scale masterplanning (~2,000 ha+) to local community planning and strategic engagement. At SOM, Ian worked with both the City Design Practice team and the Research and Innovation Group 

He was also an early team contributor to the venture-backed start-up Cedar as the Generative Systems, Lead. A mission-driven tech-enabled architecture firm looking to re-invent the future of urban housing in Austin, Texas. At Cedar, Ian developed GIS processing plug-ins and applied urban design knowledge towards the structure of generative systems.

Ian has prior experience in academia and think-tanks with a portfolio ranging from asset management software, community land trust projects, and novel forms of community engagement through art. He has previously taught graduate spatial analysis and visualization at the University of Illinois Chicago, College of Urban Planning & Policy in the Master of City Design program.

He holds a Master of Science in the Design of Cities from SCI-Arc (Southern California Institute of Architecture) and Bachelor of Architectural Studies with a concentration in Urbanism from Carleton University. At SCI-Arc, Ian was a student of Thom Mayne & Eui-Sung Yi and was co-recipient of the Hsinming Fung and Craig Hodgetts Postgraduate Thesis Award with collaborator Calvin Sin. 

He’s a fan of card games, extremely over-buttered popcorn, and in-flight meals. Has a song for every occasion and has seen the original Transformers movie a few too many times. He’s previously lived in Cebu City, Yellowknife, Los Angeles, and Chicago.