About

Marissa Tsugawa, Ph.D.

they/she

I am a neurodivergent, biracial, queer engineering education researcher, educator, scientist, engineer, parent, mentor, colleague, & artist.

​

I aspire to create and support inclusive and accessible STEM education environments through methodological activism. To achieve my aspiration, my engineering education research focuses on the experiences of silenced engineering students and the identity development of STEM faculty as educators and education researchers. The main theme in my research is exploring people (e.g., students, faculty) as a whole. We all have many identities that interact in every social, environmental, and cultural context that hold meaning. As such, I choose to study engineering education using intersectionality as a guide to designing and approaching my research. 

 

I am an Assistant Professor at Utah State University researching the experiences neurodivergent engineering students and mentoring identity of early-career engineering faculty. My previous research investigated engineering graduate student motivation and identity, experiences of women of color in engineering, and virtual communities of practice that support LGBTQ+ groups in engineering. 
 

​Degrees

Ph.D. in Engineering Education (2019)

M.S. in Mechanical Engineering (2014)

B.S. in Mechanical Engineering, Minor in Physics (2012)

Certificates​

ACUE Certificate in Effective College Instruction (Completed in April 2022)

CITI Training (No. 36053154, expires in 2025)

CITI Training RCR (No. 18301864, completed in 2016)

Engineer Intern (No. 0T6773, completed in 2012)

​