pHirst Scholars

Melanie Brandt received her MA in Humanities from CU Denver. For her thesis, she investigated the power of humor in forming identities and effecting political and social change. Her work necessitated multidisciplinary research and study thereby creating a platform for understanding the fundamental elements of learning and communication that can be applied to many academic disciplines. Melanie earned her bachelor’s degree in Literature and graduated summa cum laude. She is interested in combining the humanities and STEM fields of study in innovative ways that bolster both.

Melanie has taught a variety of writing, film, and literature classes. Furthermore, she has taught in Mines’ Design EPICS program since 2011. This spring she will be teaching one section of NHV and oral communications, along with one section of EPICS.

Raised in a privileged family of engineers, lawyers, and doctors, Juan learned about the social injustices associated with the application of professional expertise, including engineering. Living in Bogota, Colombia, a city of 8 million, he saw how the engineers working for the public utilities managed by his father, Bogota’s mayor, built systems that benefited the wealthy. As an engineering student in the 1980s, he experienced the engineering curriculum firsthand and how its content was shaped by the politics of the Cold War. Later as a PhD student working under the mentorship of cultural anthropologist Gary Downey, he learned that engineers and engineering have culture that can be studied and, if necessary, transformed for the wellbeing of communities, social justice, and sustainability. Transforming engineering and engineering education to promote these goals is what he has been trying to do since becoming an engineering educator in 1996.