Background AND experience

Nassirah Nelson is multidisciplinary engineer and STEM educator whose work is rooted in social practice. Her research explores ways to recontextualize and teach STEM through the arts, specifically creative technologies. She works across a variety of mediums and aims to create programs and products that foster inclusivity and connections through collaboration and play.

She is the founder of Sample Mode: Introduction to Sound Design, Beat-making, and Creative Music Technologies, A Berkeley Changemaker Course®. Her class is designed to offer students the space to explore and develop both their STEM and creative identities through the art of sampling, music production, design thinking, and digital fabrication. 

She is also the Program Manager for the CITRIS Innovation Hub, which includes the Invention Lab, a community-centered makerspace located on UC Berkeley's campus. In this role, she works to create programs that support faculty, student, and community innovation by providing the knowledge, tools, and support needed to rapidly design and prototype novel interactive products.