Zayad is an interdisciplinary architect, designer, and researcher focused on information-based digital design and sustainable systems. He currently leads the computational design division at Arch_Manu, [the ARC Centre for Next Gen Architectural Manufacturing], at UNSW, Sydney. With over 30 years of professional experience, primarily in practice, Zayad is a licensed architect with the Australian Registration Board (ARB, RAIA) in Australia and New Zealand. In academia, Zayad most recently served as an associate professor at Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University (XJTLU) in Suzhou, China, where he spent five years and was appointed director of the digital design group. Additionally, he founded d-NAT (Design Network for Art, Architecture, and Technology) in 2014, a collaborative research network exploring design possibilities at the intersection of natural systems, design, and technology. Zayad’s current research investigates the interaction between humans and evolutionary algorithms in the context of the built environment. This research aims to establish a dialogue between humans and machine intelligence through a collaborative design process, enabling the capture of designers’ intentions and creativity.