HUGO Fellowship
Curiosity in Design
Hugo, Corgan’s research and innovation team, explores moonshot ideas and brings them to life. One initiative that supports this work is the Curiosity in Design Fellowship, a program for recent graduates and emerging professionals interested in design research and innovation.
At Corgan, we believe curiosity fuels innovation. Our fellows help bridge research and design — championing evidence-based thinking, creative collaboration, and a deep understanding of how people experience place. They are curious, collaborative, and passionate about shaping environments that make a positive impact.
Amy Qu
Amy Qu investigated the properties of EPScrete — a lightweight concrete that incorporates expanded polystyrene (EPS) beads instead of aggregate. Her research project explored how EPScrete could contribute to ongoing industry-wide conversations around circularity, resource efficiency, and material innovation in the built environment.
Parker Gillis
Parker Gillis joins Hugo as the second Curiosity in Design fellow. Parker brings a non-traditional background, ranging from spending time working as an auto mechanic to studying bats in a neuroethology lab. He holds a Bachelor of Science in Health Sciences from the University of Illinois Chicago, and a Master of Design in Design Focused on Health from the University of Texas at Austin.
Parker is spending the year investigating how neuroscience and evidence-based design can challenge conventional approaches to building design by making human restoration a fundamental design priority. The project combines secondary research into how specific design choices affect the way people think, feel and perform with cross-sector design-thinking workshops exploring restorative solutions at multiple scales. By identifying which strategies deliver measurable improvements — and under what conditions — the research aims to develop evidence-supported guidance that designers can apply across future projects.
Application process
The Curiosity in Design fellowship is a one-year program for recent graduates and emerging professionals interested in design research and innovation.
Fellows work alongside Hugo to explore future trends, human experience, and the intersection of research and design.
The fellowship is open to students completing their undergraduate or graduate studies, as well as young professionals in the first one to three years of their careers in architecture, interior design, or urban design
Design portfolio
All applicants will need to submit a portfolio. Your portfolio should demonstrate your design and technical skills from school and any professional experience you have, but don’t stop there! Show us how you think differently and allow for curiosity in your work. How did you get to your final concepts and what context informed your unique approach? “Show and tell” your exploration process and how your insights translated into design intent.
Project proposal
To be considered for the internship, you must submit a project proposal with your application. Use the proposal link in the application to share a topic you’re curious about and how you would explore it through design research.
