ABOUT
Hello, I'm Thomas Knoepffler, a design technologist in Miami, Florida. I design physical objects and software tools that respond to the people and spaces around them, working with AI, sensors, and digital fabrication. My recent projects include a 3D-printed hydroponic planter, a desk lamp that senses posture, and a browser tool for building procedural 3D worlds.
I hold an MS in Design Technology from Cornell University and a BS in Integrated Design & Media from NYU, and before graduate school I worked in UI/UX design and product management at an early-stage startup. Outside of studio work I have mentored student designers and volunteered with local creative communities.
I'm currently looking for design technologist and prototyping roles in Miami, Florida, and I'm glad to hear from anyone about the work.
SKILLS
— Rhino 3D, Grasshopper, Blender
— Adobe Creative Cloud, Figma
— 3D Printing, Laser Cutting
— Arduino, Raspberry Pi
— HTML, CSS, JavaScript
— Python, C#
LINKS
Resume
LinkedIn
Instagram
GitHub
Email HELLO WORLDS
HELLO WORLDS
Cornell University, Cornell Tech
Specialization Project I, Fall 2025
— DESIGN 8131
COLLABORATORS
Cheng Peng
MY ROLE
Designer, Developer, Scripter, Researcher
DESCRIPTION
A browser tool for building 3D worlds by wiring algorithms together in a node editor: noise for terrain, L-systems for plants, flocking for creatures, all running live.
LINKS
Project GitHub
Research GitHub
WHAT IT IS
Hello Worlds is a browser-based engine for building worlds out of algorithms. It owes a debt to Minecraft, Spore, and Dwarf Fortress, games in which the world is generated rather than drawn, and it borrows their ambition that several people should be able to build in the same world at once. The core is deliberately small and extensible: a kernel that other procedural systems can plug into.
HOW IT WORKS
The prototype renders in Three.js, uses React Flow for the node graph, and deploys with Vite. A user flies through a sandbox world on one side of the screen and wires nodes together on the other. Each node is a procedural system, Perlin noise for terrain, L-systems for plants, flocking for agents, and connecting them changes the world in real time. Nobody has to write code to build something that moves.
NEXT STEPS
The roadmap is toward collaboration: several people editing the same graph at once, and an AI suggesting the next node. Releasing the kernel as open source would let others add VR support and export pipelines to game engines. The hard problems ahead are server-side computation and keeping multiplayer responsive. The point throughout is to make procedural design something people can pick up and build with together, rather than a specialty that requires a programmer.