Raquel Velho

Raquel Velho is an Associate Professor in the Department of Science and Technology Studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), within the School of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences. Her work bridges social science and technological systems, with a focus on inclusion and accessibility.

Education:

• PhD in Science & Technology Studies, University College London, United Kingdom (2017)
• MSc in Science, Technology, Medicine, and Society, Imperial College London, United Kingdom (2013)
• BA in Sociology, Université de Nantes, France (2012)

Her research centers on how marginalized users, particularly wheelchair users, interact with and influence large sociotechnical systems like public transportation. She examines inclusion mechanisms and user agency in infrastructural development, with fieldwork based in London. She is currently expanding her research into the geopolitics of large-scale scientific infrastructures, especially in astronomy.

Raquel has received multiple honors, including the 2024 Curricular Development Award, two Rensselaer Trustees’ Celebrations of Faculty Achievement (2023, 2019), the 2021 Exceptional Service Award, and was elected an Honorary Member of the Phalanx Honors Society in 2023.

She actively contributes to the Design, Innovation and Society (DIS) major at RPI—a unique program taught by social scientists and humanists, where most students dual-major with engineering or management disciplines. Her advising, grant funding, and lab affiliations are not specified in the available text.