Walter E Zesk (he/him)


Associate Professor College of Engineering & Design Design Providence

Biography and Expertise

CONTACT INFOEmailwalter.zesk@jwu.eduPhone401-598-2526CampusProvidenceWalter Zesk’s research and professional practice straddle the border between design and engineering, primarily focusing on using emerging technologies to develop parametric product systems.

As a graduate student, he collaborated on an investigation into automated folding that grew into a new business, Seeyond. In addition, Zesk is co-founder of Conform Lab, which provides consulting in design automation and direct manufacturing technologies.

Prior to joining JWU in 2015, he taught at RISD and the Boston Architecture College.

Education

MS
Tufts Gordon Institute of Engineering

Master of Architecture
Rhode Island School of Design

BA
Wesleyan University

Engineering Excellence Awards
American Council of Engineering Companies of Minnesota

Façades, Best of Design Awards
Architect’s Newspaper

Honor Award (2025) Engineering Excellence Awards American Council of Engineering Companies
American Council of Engineering Companies

MIT DesignX 2022 Cohort
MIT

Presidential Fellowship
MIT

Distinguished Student
Tufts University

Gold Medal: Best of Neocon
Neocon

innovation award
Neocon

Climate Salon – AI & Climate
Panel Moderation
Climate Salon – AI & Climate
Boston Climate Salon
Boston CIC
Boston
MA
United States

Deriving Island Shorelines from Low Resolution Satellite Imagery
Poster
Coastal Geotools 2025
NOAA
Coastal Geotools 2025
wilminton
NC
United States

ADAPTATION THROUGH INNOVATION: HOW THE PRIVATE SECTOR COULD LEAD THE WAY
Oral Presentation
UN Side Session (for Climate Week)
The Government of Maldives and The United States Agency for International Development
United Nations
New York
NY
United States

Future of Construction in the face of Climate Change
Panel Presentation
Future of Construction in the face of Climate Change
Invena PVT LTD
Maldives University
Male
Maldives

Growing Islands Optimizing Passive Sediment Accretion in a Current Dominant Bilateral Flow
Oral Presentation
FLOW-3D World Users Conference
FLOW-3D
Hamburg Germany
Hamburg
Germany

Littoral Coastal Forecasting
Exhibit
AI in the Built World
MIT
Media Lab

MIT-Google Workshop 1.25.23
Lecture
MIT-Google Workshop 1.25.23
Google
MIT

REAL Open House
Oral Presentation

REAL Workshop
Oral Presentation
REAL Workshop
JWU
JWU

Littoral Coastal Forecasting
Oral Presentation
innovation ecosystem in the SA+P
MIT Senseable City Lab
MIT Center for Real Estate