On November 16–17, 2025, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Yefan Zhi and Dr. Masoud Akbarzadeh led the workshop titled “Ovenbird: Automated toolpath design for 3D concrete printing”, as part of the Advances in Architectural Geometry (AAG) conference in Boston.

After two crash courses on PolyFrame 2 and Ovenbird, 14 participants teamed up to formulate 11 designs, mostly form-found using Polyhedral Graphic Statics. Participants applied optimization methods in the toolpath design process to reduce overhang, enhance continuous printing, and improve surface quality. The designs were successfully printed as Scaled Fabrication Models using off-the-shelf printers with nozzle replacements.