Marielena is a designer, maker, researcher and educator. Currently, she works on R&D projects at Valldaura Labs, focusing on timber, circular design, and robotics. She is the founder of DARE, a design studio that specializes in robotic manufacturing. By leveraging computational design, traditional know-how and state-of-the-art digital tools her research involves the practical, procedural and economic drivers behind the materialization of custom products. Previously, she led a design studio within the Master of Robotics and Advanced Construction (MRAC). She holds a MArch (Hons) in Design for Manufacture from the Bartlett School of Architecture which led her to a Lectureship position in Numerical Manufacturing in University College London (UCL). She studied Architecture & Engineering in the National Technical University of Athens and in the Escola Tècnica superior d’arquitectura de Barcelona, UPC. Finally, she has worked in two international practices in Amsterdam (SeARCH and Equipe) where she gained valuable knowledge on how leading Dutch architectural firms work.