Biography 

Mengdie is a Senior Research Assistant at the Lee Kuan Yew Centre for Innovative Cities (LKYCIC). She is currently a PhD candidate at Nanyang Technological University, her research sits at the intersection of virtual reality (VR), human computer interaction (HCI), urban design, and gamification. She received prior training in landscape architecture and urban design across Italy, China, South Korea, and Germany.

Her professional experience brings together applied simulator development, urban design practice, and spatial research. Most recently, she worked as a Research Assistant at the AUMOVIO-NTU Corporate Lab, contributing to the development of an autonomous vehicle driving simulator for urban mobility research. She previously worked with a design studio in Lugano, Switzerland, on urban renovation projects, conducted GIS based spatial and environmental research at Polimi, and gained earlier urban planning experience in Guangzhou.

She is supporting Sam and team on “Understanding Impact of Urban Design on Public Space User Perception and Behaviour” project.

Education

• PhD (Ongoing), Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (2026) 

• MSc in Landscape Architecture, Politecnico di Milano, Italy (2020) 

• Bachelor in Landscape Architecture, Shenyang University, China (2018) 

Publications

• Wang, M. (2026). Gamified urban design in virtual reality: Embodied play as a mode of creative participation. In M. Makki, J. Chen, S.-F. N. Chien, J. Liu, L. Wang, & S.-Y. Wang (Eds.), Humanistic computation and intelligence: Proceedings of the 31st International Conference of the Association for Computer-Aided Architectural Design Research in Asia (CAADRIA) (Vol. 3, pp. 195–204). CAADRIA. https://papers.cumincad.org/cgi-bin/works/Show?caadria2026_121

Research areas

• Computer-Aided Architecture Design
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Gamification