About
Eric Brubaker is an Adjunct Associate Professor in the Engineering Graduate and Professional Programs at Duke University, where he teaches courses like DESIGNTK 540: Design Ethics & Social Innovation. He currently leads the Discovery phase of the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project at NASA while maintaining academic affiliations. Brubaker holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Design) from Stanford University, supported by a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, and previously worked at Battelle, IDDS, and MIT D-Lab, focusing on hardware development, design education, and community-driven initiatives in the U.S., India, and Zambia.
His research bridges engineering design, organizational studies, and learning sciences, emphasizing collaboration across disciplinary and societal boundaries. He employs ethnographic and mixed-methods approaches to study wicked problems in aviation, stakeholder engagement, and equitable community partnerships. Notable contributions include frameworks for human-AI collaboration and guidelines for impactful engineering education partnerships.
Brubaker’s work has been published in journals like the Journal of Mechanical Design, International Journal of Engineering Education, and Advances in Engineering Education. He is affiliated with Duke’s Pratt School of Engineering and has collaborated with institutions such as Stanford’s Center for Work, Technology & Organization and NASA’s Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate.
