Daniel Massimino is a mechanical engineering PhD candidate in the Fabrication-Integrated Design Lab (FIDL). His current research focuses on the development of glass 3D printing to produce construction materials on the Moon using indigenous lunar regolith and on Earth using recycled post-consumer glass. His background and interests in the built environment, manufacturing, and aerospace engineering converge in his work developing processes to build a lunar base while transferring that technology to address the growing volume of terrestrial glass waste. At MIT, he is also a mentor in MakerWorkshop, a student-run makerspace, and a glassblowing instructor in the MIT Glass Lab.

Prior to his graduate work at MIT, he received his undergraduate degree from Columbia University in Civil Engineering and then worked as a Boeing manufacturing engineer for five years on the Core Stage of NASA’s Space Launch System at NASA’s Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana. While living in New Orleans, he was also a member of the New Orleans Community Printshop and Darkroom, helping provide low-cost access to darkroom facilities for the community.