Pedro Reynolds-Cuellar

I am a Colombian designer and researcher doing theory and practice work at the intersection of participatory design (PD), science and technology studies (STS), human-computer interaction (HCI), and radical social change. I am a Ph.D candidate at the MIT Media Lab, advised by Prof. Azra Akšamija, Prof. Ethan Zuckerman and Prof. Eden Medina. I work jointly between the MIT Media Lab and the Future Heritage Lab at the Art, Culture and Technology program. I am currently a fellow at the Morningside Academy for Design at MIT.

I use participatory strategies to collaborate with, and support self-determination initiatives in rural contexts. Through ethnographic methods and decolonial lenses, I explore how technological infrastructure takes shape in these remote geographies. My experience allows me dynamically move from fieldwork, to design and deployment of digital and physical prototypes, to social organizing. I publish regularly at conferences such as CSCW, CHI, and PDC, and at critical outlets such as Science for the People or Tech Otherwise. I serve as editor and in leadership roles at some of these venues.

I am a co-founder of the Colombian design collective Diversa. We focus on community-based, participatory work on rural technology, education on technology co-design, and digital services offerings for managing local innovation.

I completed my Master's at the MIT Media Lab advised by Prof. Cynthia Breazeal. I did my undergraduate studies in Linguistics advised by Prof. Roberto Perry in the Linguistics Lab at the the Universidad Nacional de Colombia. Previously, I have worked with the MIT D-Lab, the MIT Center for Civic Media, and the One Laptop per Child Foundation.

Please reach out at pcuellar (at) mit (dot) edu