MOD X Partners
Ivan Rupnik is an architect, scholar, consultant and Associate Professor of Architecture at Northeastern University. Over the last decade, Prof. Rupnik has collaborated closely with Prof. Ryan E. Smith on a series of research and consulting projects supporting the international offsite industry. In 2018, Rupnik and Smith launched MOD X, a platform for knowledge generation and exchange in the offsite industry. Rupnik’s doctoral work at Harvard University focused on the international knowledge networks and policy initiatives that led to the first large-scale offsite construction programs in Europe and the United States. In 2020, he served as an expert advisor for HUD’s exploratory panel, facilitated by 2M. He is a fellow of MBI. He was the Associate Editor of the Journal of Architectural Education from 2010-2018. He has held academic appointments at Harvard University, City College New York, the Rhode Island School of Design and Syracuse University. Ivan holds a B.Arch. from Louisiana State University, M.Arch. from Harvard University, M.A. in Urban Planning from Harvard University, and a PhD from Harvard University.
Ryan E. Smith is a Professor and Director of the School of Architecture at the University of Arizona. Professor Smith has been teaching, researching and consulting with respect to offsite construction, industrialized building, prefab and volumetric modular product R&D, factory setup and layout, design assist, and market analysis and focus group, for 18 years. Smith is author of numerous offsite construction reports, papers and books including the seminal text, Prefab Architecture (Wiley, 2010). He is the founding past chair and current board member of the National Institute of Building Sciences, Offsite Construction Council, a fellow of the Modular Building Institute and a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Offsite Construction + Innovative Structures at Edinburgh Napier University in the UK. He currently serves on the board of Ivory Innovation Housing Affordability Foundation. His doctoral work focused on creating frameworks for international knowledge management and exchange in offsite construction for housing. Ryan holds a B.Arch. from the University of Arizona, a M.Arch. from the University of California, Berkeley, and a PhD from Edinburgh Napier University.
Tyler Schmetterer is an international offsite industry expert, advisor, integrator, and award-winning designer/producer of manufactured projects focused on sustainable high-performance residential housing. Tyler has accumulated over 30 years of commercial experience and is currently Managing Partner of MOD X and serves on multiple international Advisory Boards in the sustainable building, renewable energy, and impact capital industries. In the early 2000's, Tyler co-founded an offsite design-build-develop group focused on manufacturing high-performance sustainable residential housing. The venture earned several historic U.S. environmental certifications/awards including the first USGBC LEED Platinum Factory-Built Home in New York (2009), New Jersey (2011), Georgia (2009); NAHB Green Project of the Year (2010); NAHB EVHA Factory-Built House of the Year (2010); first NAHB NGBS Emerald Factory-Built Home (2012); Tyler holds a B.A. from Skidmore College, an MBA from Fordham University graduating with Summa Cum Laude and Alpha Mu Alpha honors, and completed Passive House (CPHC) training in 2014.