Associate Professor Naomi Frangos from the New York Institute of Technology's School of Architecture and Design recently invited Partner Stephen Kieran to speak about KieranTimberlake's ethic of improvement and the ways in which it leads to invention and innovation. Kieran discussed the tactics used to give rise to empathetic planning and design, citing examples from the firm's practice as well as from his work with fellow partner James Timberlake on the Dhaka Design-Research Laboratory. 
 
The Dhaka Design-Research Laboratory is a cross-disciplinary design studio held at the University of Pennsylvania's School of Design. Through intensive research and annual visits, the studio seeks new ways to stimulate relevant design interventions, and to model a research-based approach for urban planning in both the developing and the developed worlds.

In addition to Kieran's lecture, a companion exhibit co-curated by Kirean and Frangos entitled Understanding Place: Seven Years of Researching Dhaka, Bangladesh is on display in the Center Gallery at NYIT Old Westbury. Open to the public from March 1 – April 6, 2016, the exhibit features photographs, videos, animations, and design proposals from the Dhaka Design-Research Laboratory.

The complete work of the Dhaka Design-Research studio is documented in a book, Alluvium: Dhaka, Bangladesh in the Crossroads of Water, published in 2015 by ORO Editions.