Mel Chua

Mel Chua is an Adjunct Professor at the University of San Francisco, specializing in engineering education and open source community learning. A midwife of makers, she bridges hacker learning practices with formal engineering pedagogy to expand access for changemakers.

Her research focuses on:

• Engineering education cultures
• Learning dynamics in open source communities
• Transforming academic systems to support grassroots innovation

Prior roles include:

• Research Scientist in Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Tech
• Visiting Assistant Professor at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)
• Collaboratory Fellow at Olin College

Educational background:

• B.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Olin College (2007)
• Ph.D. in Engineering Education (in progress) at Purdue University

Notable recognition:

• Collaboratory Fellowship for innovative educational practices