EduCon 2.8

Raja Schaar, BSID, MAAE is an industrial designer and design lecturer with the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at GA Tech and Emory University.

Raja has been a member of Georgia Tech’s faculty since 2004—teaching for both the College of Architecture and the College of Engineering. As Lecturer for the Biomedical Engineering program, Schaar teaches design and entrepreneurship courses and co-manages the BME machine shop. As a College of Architecture faculty member, she developed and taught both undergraduate and graduate courses for the School of Industrial Design, and led design studios for the College of Architecture’s Common First Year program.

Her academic focus is on K-16 design pedagogy, innovation and entrepreneurship, human-centered design methodologies, STEM/STEAM education, and sustainability. This expertise has allowed Raja to successfully guide Biomedical Engineering, Industrial Design, and Architecture students through a range of projects focused on: medical devices, interaction design, exhibition design, eco-design, biologically-inspired design, transportation, service design, and application development. She is an active community design and art educator working with community organizations and Museums all over the Southeast.

In addition to her decade-long practice as museum exhibit designer and design educator, Raja has also served as the Director of Programs and Operations at Museum of Design Atlanta. Raja speaks on STEAM and design education at conferences and workshops all over the US, and is currently working making plans to climb Mount Kilimanjaro.