Libertad Lauren McLellan Harris

Scholar since
2023

Scholarship received
The Sho-Ping Chin Women's Leadership Summit Grant

Education

New Jersey Institute of Technology

Hometown
East Brunswick, NJ

Libertad Lauren Harris, Associate AIA, WELL AP, GGP is a BIM Manager at Stantec in Philadelphia, PA advocating for and mentoring collogues on the latest technological advances in the AEC industry.

Lauren serves as the AIA National Associates Committee 2023 Vice Chair and the AIA-NJ COTE Committee Chair where she hosts the annual East Cost Green Conference bringing International speakers to the stage to discuss solutions to our climate crisis.

Lauren graduated from the New Jersey Institute of Technology as an Albert Dorman Honors Scholar with a Bachelor’s of Architecture degree with a minor in Environmental and Sustainable Studies. Lauren’s research in Bio-Enabled Façade Engineering, which proposes to mitigate carbon emissions and generate biolipids for on-site energy production within the building façade, was awarded first place in the 2015 Dana Knox Research. Her work in Soft Robotics and Emerging Architectural Material appeared in Architectural Digest, January 2016 issue.

Through her continued passion for sustainable architecture, she supports local and state-wide STEAM initiatives such as the New Jersey School Board Associations’ STEAM Tank competition which showcases K-12 student inventions from aquaponic farms to tiny homes. Through this work, she hopes to inspire kids to pursue STEAM field careers, including architecture.