Mercedes Garcia-Holguera

Dr. Mercedes Garcia Holguera is a registered architect from the Polytechnic University of Madrid in Spain and holds a LEED AP BD+C credential. She has worked at leading architecture firms in Canada, Mexico, and Chile before joining the Department of Architecture at the University of Manitoba in 2019. She earned her Ph.D. from McGill University in 2018, with a focus on biomimetic design for resource use optimization in buildings. Her research integrates disciplines such as science, technology, architecture, and environmental design, emphasizing biomimetic approaches and the development of biobased materials. She founded the BIOM_Lab at the Faculty of Architecture in 2021, and her research group is currently exploring biomaterials to improve access to local, high-performance materials for northern and remote communities and to promote resource self-sufficiency in these regions and globally.

I’m interested in PhD applicants who have a genuine passion for transdisciplinary research, especially in biomimetic design and biomaterials research, and who have experience with computational and digital tools, including energy simulation software. Students from natural sciences, engineering disciplines, and design fields are welcome to submit their CV and a letter of interest each year between September and November for consideration.