Knowledge production is a matter of justice. What we know (or think we know or claim to know) shapes the worlds we make. So if we want to change the world, we need to know differently.
– Professor Aimi Hamraie, Critical Design Lab
My research vision: As a design theorist, educator, and practitioner, I examine the social determinants of design trajectories and seek ways to develop equitable design tools and methodology to reimagine engineering theory and practice. I apply technofeminist frameworks to broaden our understanding about the structures of solution principles and their role in the betterment of designs. Namely, I explore how social norms, like gender, give rise to the dominant designs of technologies like the sewing machine and draw from intersectional queer-feminist and engineering design theory to examine complex design themes related to gender and power– and how these shape the products and systems that govern much of our realities, capabilities, and possibilities. Some of my goals are to develop:
- Theories & Models rooted in feminist technoscience, decolonial, and anti-racist praxis that describe how technology is shaped over time by systemic oppressive social norms and how these affect the design process
- Tools to evaluate design solution principles of highly gendered and marginalized engineered technologies (e.g., menstrual products, domestic technologies, life-essential tech, etc).
Past Research Areas:
My current research is heavily informed by my past industry and research experiences, all of which were experimental or product-design related. I have extensive micro/nanofab, wet lab, and product manufacturing experience, which while I do not use now as a design theorist, it’s a future area of research I’d like to get back into.
- MEMS and semiconductor design, fabrication, and process optimization for medical and printing applications
- Industrial 3D color printing design and analysis, low-volume, high-precision manufacturing, materials research
- ZnO nanowires with carbon nanotubes for photoelectrochemical applications for sustainable energy solutions
- Cell biomechanics, design and process optimization for medical device applications
