Branden Collins was born in Denver, Colorado and spent his youth in Vermont and Ohio. He graduated from Hampshire College with a concentration in Sculpture and Digital Animation in 2003. As a New York City Teaching Fellow, he brought his passion for inquiry and computer technology to his science and computer students in Brooklyn, New York. In an effort to extend his influence into the built environment, he earned a Master of Architecture degree from Cornell University in 2009. Here he participated in the design and construction of two Solar Decathlon houses on the National Mall in Washington D.C. In addition to his commitment to sustainable practices in building, he has a keen interest in the intersection of computational optimization and affordable architecture.