About
image credit: 2019, Stanford PRL
In a world of silos and division, my research supports co-design across cultural, disciplinary, organizational, and human-AI boundaries to frame and address complex societal challenges like access to water, energy, and healthcare. Ultimately, this work joins others to envision and co-create more just and sustainable futures.
I am an educator at heart have developed and taught courses since 2012 in engineering design, manufacturing, organization studies, and planetary health. I have also co-organized design summits in Brazil, Ghana, Netherlands, the United States, and Zambia.
Before my PhD, I worked in hardware product development as a R&D engineer, entrepreneur, and design instructor. At MIT D-Lab, I ran the Scale-Up social venture accelerator, taught courses, and spent several months each year living and working in Zambia with incredible Zambian innovators. Through my work, I frequently unlearn and learn new ways to see.
Education
Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering (Design), Stanford University, 2022
Doctoral Committee: Pamela Hinds, Sheri Sheppard, Maria Yang (MIT), Bob Sutton (Reader)
Dissertation: Cross-Boundary Design Work: Ethnographies of co-design across knowledge and organizational boundaries in professional engineering practice
Methods: Ethnography and Grounded Theory Building
Certificate: Critical Consciousness and Anti-Oppressive Praxis
M.A., Education (Learning Sciences), Stanford University, 2022
Advisor: Victor Lee
Concentration: Socio-cultural Lenses of Learning
Methods: Interviews, Network Analysis, Field Experiments, Mixed Methods
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, Stanford University, 2018
Advisors: Sheri Sheppard, David Beach
Concentration: Design and Manufacturing
Teaching Assistant, Product Realization Lab
B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Ohio State University, 2009
Minors: Chemistry, International Studies, Philosophy (Ethics)
Experience
2022-present — Team Lead & Senior Human-Centered Design Engineer, National Aeronautics & Space Administration (NASA)
2011-2016 — Program Administrator & Instructor, D-Lab Scale-Ups, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
2010-2012 — Co-Founder, Zimba Water
2010 — Researcher, New England Complex Systems Institute
2005-2009 — R&D Engineer (Intern), Battelle Memorial Institute