Bio:
John S. Gero, PhD, is a Research Professor in the Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Drexel University. Prior to joining Drexel, Dr. Gero was a Research Professor in Computer Science and Architecture at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Previously he had been a Research Professor in the Krasnow Institute for Advanced Studies and before that the Professor Design Science at the University of Sydney and the Director of its Key Centre of Design Computing and Cognition.
Dr. Gero uses computational models, cognitive methods and cognitive neuroscience methods, and brain imaging (EEG, fNIRS and fMRI), to study design thinking and creative thinking. He works collaboratively with multiple labs in the US, UK, Finland, Israel, Italy, Korea, Sweden and Switzerland.
Dr. Gero has published over 900 articles including 57 authored or edited books, as well as numerous conference presentations on design neurocognition, design cognition, artificial intelligence in design and design theory. His publications have been cited over 32,000 times and have an h-index of 80 and an i10-index of 400+. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation (funding has come from the CMMI, CNS, DRL, EEC, IIS and SBE Programs), DARPA and NASA, amongst others. He is the founding editor and Emeritus Editor-in-Chief of Design Science and is an Associate Editor for multiple journals including the Creativity Research Journal. Dr. Gero is the founder and chair of the international conference series Design Computing and Cognition, a highly cited conference series, which has been running since 1991. Dr. Gero has received numerous honors and distinctions for his research. He is an elected Fellow of the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, an elected Life Fellow of the Design Society, and a Life Fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts, amongst others.
Dr. Gero has been a Visiting Professor of Architecture, Artificial Intelligence, Civil Engineering, Cognitive Science, Computer Science, Design and Computation or Mechanical Engineering at MIT, UC-Berkeley, UCLA, Columbia, CMU and GMU in the USA, at Strathclyde and Loughborough in the UK, at INSA-Lyon and Provence in France and at EPFL in Switzerland. His former doctoral students are professors in the USA, UK, Australia, Finland, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Singapore and Taiwan. He is listed as among the top 2% of international researchers by the Stanford Annual Assessment.
Selected Publications:
Aruon, A., Shealy, T. & Gero, J.S. (2025). An empirical study on the effects of generative AI on early-stage engineering design and neurocognition, ASME IDETC2025, DETC2025-169255
Gero, J.S. (2025). Shape computation research at the University of Sydney, in S. Kotsopoulos (ed.), Shape Computation - Fifty years 1972-2022, MIT Press, pp. 317-333.
Colombo, S., Gero, J. S., Mazza, A. & Cantamessa, M. (2024). Chronobiology of pupil dilation in design students during idea generation, DESIGN 2024 Proceedings of the Design Society, vol. 4, pp. 925 - 934. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/pds.2024.95.
Gero, J. S. & Milovanovic, J. (2024). Do creativity metrics from design research correlate with those from psychology? Creativity Research Journal, 36(3), 508–520. https://doi.org/10.1080/10400419.2024.2320513
Walker, E., Shealy, T. & Gero, J.S. (2024). Neuro-cognitive feedback as a tool for improving cognitive endurance in engineering design. In: Gero, J.S. (eds) Design Computing and Cognition’24 Vol. 2. Springer Nature, Cham, pp.176-185. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-71922-6_12.
Gero, J.S. & Milovanovic, J. (2023). Design Thinking and Design Neurocognition, in K Straker & C Wrigley (eds), Research Handbook on Design Thinking, Edward Elgar, pp. 7-24. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781802203134
Milovanovic, J., Gero, J.S., Shealy, T. & Hu, M. (2023). Characterization of design brain states over time when using morphological analysis and TRIZ. In: Gero, J.S. (ed), Design Computing and Cognition’22. Springer, Cham. pp.269-285. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-20418-0_17
Hu, M., Shealy, T., Milovanovic, J. & Gero, J.S. (2022). Neuro-cognitive feedback: A prospective approach to sustain idea generation during brainstorming, International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 10(5):1-20. doi: 10.1080/21650349.2021.1976678
Kelly, N. & Gero, J.S. (2022). Reviewing the concept of design frames towards a cognitive model, Design Science, 8, E30. doi:10.1017/dsj.2022.25
Vieira, S., Benedek. M., Gero, J.S., Li, S. & Cascini, G. (2022). Brain activity in constrained and open design: The effect of gender on frequency bands, AIEDAM, 36(e6). doi: 10.1017/S0890060421000202
Kelly, N. & Gero, J.S. (2021). Design thinking and computational thinking: A dual process model for addressing design problems, Design Science, 7, e8 doi: 10.1017/dsj.2021.7
Milovanovic, J. Hu, M., Shealy, T. & Gero J.S. (2021). Characterization of concept generation for engineering design through temporal brain network analysis, Design Studies, 76 doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.destud.2021.101044
Gero, J.S. (2020). Editorial: Nascent directions for design creativity research, International Journal of Design Creativity and Innovation, 8(3): 144-146.
Shealy, T., Gero, J.S., Hu, M. & Milovanovic, J. (2020). Concept generation techniques change patterns of brain activation during engineering design, Design Science 6, e31. https://doi.org/10.1017/dsj.2020.30
Vieira, S., Gero, J.S., Delmoral, J., Gattol, V., Fernandes, C. & Fernandes, A. (2020). The neurophysiological activations of mechanical engineers and industrial designers while designing and problem-solving, Design Science, 6, e26. doi:10.1017/dsj.2020.26.