I am a multi-disciplinary researcher working towards advancing design science, with an emphasis on improving engineering for social impact and global development applications. I am passionate about bettering design practices for the benefit of humanity and equipping the next generation of engineers to tackle our world’s most pressing challenges. I am an Assistant Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Colorado Boulder where I lead the Burleson Global Design Group. Through experimental and ethnographic human subjects research, we seek to advance engineering design theory and methods so that solutions lead to improved social, environmental, and economic outcomes. Specifically, our research goals focus on developing new engineering design methods across all design stages, including problem framing, decision making, requirements engineering, detailed design, and validation.

Prior to CU Boulder, I completed my PhD in Design Science at the University of Michigan and was an ASME Engineering for Change Fellow from 2017-2021. I have worked for NASA’s Convergent Aeronautics Solutions Project, investigating how design teams tackled problems related to the social and environmental impact of aviation solutions. In 2019, I co-founded the Mbale Center for Innovation and Design (led by MAPLE Microdevelopment) in eastern Uganda, which empowers and equips communities to design and test solutions to challenges related to clean water, energy, reforestation, and livelihood development. I also hold a dual-M.S. in Mechanical Engineering and Applied Anthropology and a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University.

Link to C.V. | Link to Google Scholar page

Education:

• Ph.D., Design Science, University of Michigan

• M.S., Mechanical Engineering and Applied Anthropology, Oregon State University

• B.S., Mechanical Engineering, Oregon State University