Eric Reynolds Brubaker

I am an engineer, designer, and researcher currently leading the Discovery phase of the Convergent Aeronautics Solutions project at NASA. I also teach in the transdisciplinary online Masters in Engineering, Sustainability, & Health (MESH) program at the University of San Diego.

After a decade at MIT D-Lab, IDDS, and Battelle working collaboratively to develop hardware, teach design, and grow social impact organizations in the U.S., India, and Zambia, I went back to school and completed a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering (Design) at Stanford University. There I was part of the Center for Work, Technology & Organization, Center for Design Research, and Center for African Studies with funding from the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship

My research examines how and supports people to co-design across group boundaries. I build from theories in engineering design, organization studies, the learning sciences, complex systems, sociology, psychology, critical studies and other transdisciplinary scholarship. This typically involves ethnography and mixed methods in partnership with communities and organizations

My family and I are based in Chapel Hill, NC, USA.