Howard Hahn

Associate Professor Howard Hahn brings more than two decades of professional practice to his teaching and research in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Regional & Community Planning at Kansas State University. Before joining academia in 2008, Hahn built an extensive career in the private sector, working for nationally recognized design and planning firms including Design Workshop in Denver and the multidisciplinary firms Dames & Moore (now URS Corporation) and Psomas in Southern California.

During his professional tenure, Hahn developed specialized expertise in visual simulation and assessment for large-scale community developments, transportation systems, and infrastructure projects across the western United States. His clients included private developers, federal agencies such as the National Park Service, U.S. Forest Service, and Bureau of Land Management, as well as state transportation departments, county and municipal governments, and major utility providers.

Since transitioning to academia, Hahn has drawn upon his professional background to enrich his courses in design implementation, community planning, and design studios. He is also a leader in integrating technology into design education, teaching courses in computer-aided design (CAD/Civil 3D), 3D modeling, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), visual simulation, and synthetic landscape rendering.

Hahn’s research focuses on visual analysis, aesthetics, and conservation development, with subareas exploring stormwater best management practices (BMPs), wetland and meadow landscape visualization, and parking and floor-area-ratio (FAR) analysis as tools for sustainable community design. His work bridges environmental stewardship with technological innovation, promoting design strategies that balance ecological responsibility with visual and functional quality.

Hahn is a registered landscape architect in Kansas and continues to advance design education through research, practice, and mentorship that emphasize the integration of science, technology, and creativity in shaping sustainable environments.