Shahzia S. Shazi

Shahzia Shazi is an adjunct faculty member in the Department of Geography and Planning at the University at Albany, as well as an architecture faculty in the School of Architecture at Academy of Art University, San Francisco California.

As a lecturer she formerly taught in the Department of Urban and Regional Planning at San Jose State University. She is a trained designer with expertise in 3D visualizations, urban design, architecture, concept design, and space planning. She obtained her Bachelor of Architecture degree from BRAC University in Dhaka, Bangladesh, in 2007, and received her Master of Architecture degree with a concentration in Urban Design and Infrastructure from the College of Architecture and Landscape Architecture at the University of Arizona in Tucson, Arizona, in 2009. Her master’s thesis focused on connecting the city of Tucson with open-space design strategies and alternative modes of transportation to minimize urban sprawl.

At the University at Albany, she teaches graduate-level courses that focus on the importance of computer applications in planning and site planning, while at Academy of Art University, she teaches an undergraduate course in 2D digital visual media where students learn to create digital collages, diagrams and drawings to represent an idea using industry- standard software, lecture information, case studies and tutorials. At San Jose State University, she taught a graduate lab-based course in digital visualization for urban spatial representation using industry-standard software. Previously, as a graduate teaching assistant at the University of Arizona, she taught in two courses: Design Communications 1, and Foundation Studio 2: Drawing, Modeling, and Descriptive Geometry.

As a designer, she has worked on various visualization projects for Behan Planning and Design in Saratoga Springs, New York. As a 3D visualization specialist at Newlands & Company, Inc. in Portland, Oregon, she managed and executed 3D design visualization projects involving architectural, urban, and interior design with the application of visualization technology. She also worked as a visualization architect at Brahe & Bestec, a Denmark-Bangladesh joint venture in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Shahzia is an experienced photographer specializing in landscapes, portraits, and events, and is well versed in post-production techniques using Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, and other software. In her leisure time, she plays with colors through her paintings and 3D digital art.
 

Research Interests

• 2D and 3D visualizations in planning
• Urban design and revitalization
• Sustainable community planning
   

Courses Taught

• A PLN 574: Site Planning, University at Albany
• A PLN 503: Computer Applications in Planning, University at Albany
• A PLN 552: CAD in Planning, University at Albany
• ARH 180: 2D Digital Visual Media, Academy of Art University
• URBP 248: Spatial Visualization Technologies in Urban Planning, San Jose State University