Hello again!

In my work as a designer, I use participatory methods to collaborate and support rural collectives engaged in alternative economic, cultural, or social self-determination initiatives. It involves designing decentralized, local technology infrastructure or creating digital platforms. As a researcher, I use qualitative and ethnographic methods to explore how technological infrastructure takes shape in rural geographies, the role of participatory initiatives in these contexts, and investigate what these alternative forms of shaping technology have to teach us. Particularly my designer and researcher roles are deeply inspired by Indigenous research methods, and by ideas advanced by decolonial studies. As an activist, I organize efforts across labor issues in higher education, immigration within LatinX and ChicanX communities in the United States, and climate action in Massachusetts.

I also spend time writing and thinking critically about science and technology and care deeply about building community. I volunteer as an editor for the Science for the People (SftP) magazine and as a SIGCHI Latin America committee chair. Through these roles, I work toward building critical perspectives on how science and technology can do better for society and the planet and contribute to creating more inclusive spaces for HCI researchers and practitioners from Latin America.

Not everything is work though! I play soccer and table-tennis (semi-professionally), and have a radio show on industrial music. 

Press

MIT News | MIT Morningside Academy for Design’s inaugural fellows chart a new course︎︎︎

MIT News | New prize program recognizes MIT researchers who make data openly accessible and reusable︎︎︎

La República | En el Massachusetts Institute of Technology de EE.UU. se destacan 43 colombianos︎︎︎

Revista Diners | Pedro Reynolds, el colombiano que va tras la ciencia de los sueños︎︎︎

Lincoln Institute | Innovation Ecosystems: Identifying and Fostering Grassroots Design Capacity︎︎︎

Diseño y Diáspora Podcast | En la intersección entre diseño comunitario, educación y tecnología. Una entrevista con Pedro Reynolds Cuellar︎︎︎

Impacto TIC | Robots that generate emotions and care for their users? Yes they are here︎︎︎

Engineering for Change | C-Innova Demonstrates How Partnerships Benefit Grassroots Movements in Colombia︎︎︎

Universidad Jorge Tadeo Lozano | Estudiantes y comunidades construyen prototipos para mejorar la productividad de asociaciones cafeteras en Cundinamarca︎︎︎

MIT News | MIT students hack assistive technology solutions for local clients︎︎︎

Invited Talks

“Ancestral Technology as Portal to Post-Designs”. Graduate School of Design. Universidad de Nariño. Colombia.

“Co-Creation: Inclusive or Extractive”. Jose Celestino Mutis Lecture. School of Engineering, Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Colombia.

“Innovación desde la ruralidad Colombiana”. Keynote. Innovation Day. Universidad del Rosario. Colombia.

“Viviendo con Robots en el Hogar”. Keynote. Andi Summit of Digital Transformation. Colombia.

“Local Innovation, Global Impact”. MIT Technology Review, Innovators Under 35 Latin America. Guatemala

“Creativity and Making in Education”. Fablearn Conference. USA.

“Research, ICTs and Innovation in Schools”. Digital Education Summit, Ministry of Information Technologies and Communications. Colombia.

“Taming Big Tech, Exploring the Alternatives”. Invited panel with Prof. Lily Irani, Dr. Dawn Walker and Prof. Andrew Clement. Centre for Free Expression. Faculty of Communication &
Design. Ryerson University. Canada

“Industry Professionals: How to Advocate for Design Justice When You are Not in Charge”. Invited panel with Dr. Caglar Yildirim, Lauryn McNair & Dr. Katlyn Turner. Design Justice Pedagogy Summit. USA