Fernando Lima

Innovation Through Design

In this interactive session, Dr. Debbie Gregory and Dr. Fernando Lima will explore how nurses can lead and collaborate in the healthcare design process. Using design and innovation as a framework, the session will highlight the value of nursing insight in architectural planning, the importance of nursing presence at the design table, and strategies for building effective partnerships between clinicians and architects.

Learning Objectives By the end of this session, participants will be able to:

1. Describe the principles of design thinking and their relevance to healthcare environments.
2. Explain why nurse involvement in healthcare design leads to improved outcomes for patients and staff.
3. Identify practical strategies for nurses to collaborate with architects and influence the built environment.
4. Discuss real-world examples of successful nurse-architect partnerships that shaped clinical spaces.

Biography

Dr. Fernando Lima is an architect, urban planner, and computational designer with fifteen years of teaching experience in architecture and urban design programs. Prior to joining Belmont in 2022, he served as Postdoctoral Scholar in Design Computing at the Stuckeman Center for Design Computing, Penn State University, and as vice-director of the School of Architecture and Urban Design, Head of the Department of Design, Representation, and Technology, Digital Fabrication Lab Coordinator and Professor of Architecture at the Federal University of Juiz de Fora, in Brazil.

Dr. Lima has a Ph.D. in Urban Design from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, having attended a one-year doctoral exchange at the Faculty of Architecture - University of Lisbon, Portugal. In 2018, he was awarded the Fulbright | CAPES Foundation Thesis 2018 Honorable Mention for his Ph.D. thesis. Dr. Lima holds a master’s degree in Civil Engineering from the Fluminense Federal University and a specialist degree in Construction Management from the Federal University of Juiz de Fora (2008), where he also graduated Architect and Urbanist (2003). Dr. Lima is a member of the International Executive Committee of the Ibero-American Society of Digital Graphics (SIGraDi) and a reviewer of several journals in the field of architecture, urban design, and computational design.

 “I am thrilled to be joining the O'More College of Architecture and Design! The College's supportive, mission-driven, and innovation-seeking environment makes me enthusiastic about serving as an architecture educator while addressing technology to explore, develop, and present design ideas that seek to contribute to more resilient, equitable, and beautiful buildings and communities.”