I'm a PhD student in EECS at MIT, advised by Erik Demaine in CSAIL. I was also fortunate to be advised by Zach Lieberman at the Media Lab.

I develop mathematical abstractions and computational tools that facilitate new ways of thinking and making. I'm often drawn to dialogues between computation and craft, and to building systems that invite agency, expression, and play.

My time at MIT is a collage of research, art, and teaching.

My work has been generously supported by the MIT MAD Design Fellowship, the NSERC Postgraduate Scholarship, and the MIT Stata Family Presidential Fellowship.

Updates

Research Highlights

My research explores alternative representations of visual and material systems and how they shape what we can imagine and create. I build systems around these representations, inviting users to understand and play with the constraints and possibilities they introduce.

My published work spans human–computer interaction, computer graphics, theoretical computer science, and art, with a full list of publications available on Google Scholar. While I publish in academic venues, I am equally drawn to alternative research outcomes, and have found homes for my ideas in artworks, creative tools, and educational resources.

Human-Computer Interaction Computational Design

Refashion: Reconfigurable Garments via Modular Design UIST 2025

Rebecca Lin, Michal Lukáč, Mackenzie Leake

How can we design garments for change and reuse? By reimagining garments as dynamic assemblies rather than static products, Refashion enables users to resize, restyle, and remix their garments on demand.

String to Structure project teaser
Algorithms & Theory Fabrication

Graph Threading ITCS 2024

(a-b) Erik D. Demaine, Yael Kirkpatrick, Rebecca Lin

How can we thread tubes with single string to achieve the desired structure when pulling the string taut? By recasting "threadings" as constrained walks on graphs, we give efficient algorithms for computing minimum-length threadings.

Constellation Patterns project teaser
Mathematical Art Computational Design

Encoding-Decoding Constellations

Rebecca Lin, Craig S. Kaplan

How can we create constellations with unconventional star arrangements? By representing constellation patterns as mathematical graphs, we gain an alternative language for imagining and creating constellations.

Teaching

  • MIT: Preparation for Undergraduate Research (20 hours/week)
  • MIT: Design and Analysis of Algorithms (20 hours/week)
  • MIT: Design and Analysis of Algorithms (20 hours/week)
  • MIT: Design and Analysis of Algorithms (20 hours/week)
  • MIT: Fundamentals of Programming (20 hours/week)
  • UBC: Intermediate Algorithm Analysis and Design (12 hours/week)
  • UBC: Basic Algorithms and Data Structures (12 hours/week)

Photography

Words & Images