Amir Abo-Shaeer

Amir graduated from UCSB with a Bachelor’s degree in Physics and Master’s degrees in Mechanical Engineering and Education. Before becoming a teacher in 2001, Amir was a mechanical engineer working on research and development in academia, the aerospace industry, and the telecommunications industry. Amir was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2010, and is the recipient of numerous education awards. He and his wife, Emily, are a husband-and-wife team working to transform education by ensuring that young people are prepared to shape STEAM fields in the future. They founded the Dos Pueblos Engineering Academy (DPEA) in 2002, which is a four-year product-development pathway program in a public high school that serves over 400 students annually, 50% of whom are young women.