Peter Hourihan has been named director of research at Boston architectural and engineering firm Cannon Design.

In this newly established position, Hourihan will oversee primary and secondary research, prototyping and invention and futures platforms, according to a statement.

"Peter’s move into this position gives us enormous optimism for increasing the value and impact of research in our ideas based practice. His broad experience as a practitioner in every dimension of our work and every building type combined with his career long passion for learning, teaching, investigation and discovery provides an ideal perspective on the vital connection between research and design practice," said M. Kent Turner, president of Cannon Design North America.

"My roots are in the practice of designing projects based upon research and investigation and I have always been committed to that. As the new director of research for Cannon Design, I will continue to work toward the development and promotion of new ideas to create transformative projects for our clients," said Hourihan.