Cristina Sáenz
Invention Education Manager
Cristina Saenz is the Invention Education Manager at Lemeson-MIT (LMIT) where she oversees and informs the work of the Invention Education Administrators as they develop and implement LMIT’s invention education offerings for educators and students. As a Latina, Cristina is passionate about developing solutions to remedy the historic inequalities within the invention ecosystem.
Prior to joining the team at LMIT, Cristina was an elementary school teacher in both Boston, MA and Orlando, FL. During her time as a teacher, she focused on implementing transdisciplinary project based learning. Cristina has a Ph.D. in Education with a specialization in Inclusive STEM. Her dissertation focused on examining the life experiences of young Latina inventors who participated on an LMIT high school InvenTeam. Her research revealed the cultural capital and funds of knowledge students from historically marginalized groups contributed to invention and problem solving as they simultaneously developed their identities as inventors.
Education
Bachelors of Arts, Political Science, Rollins College
Master of Arts in Teaching, Northeastern University
Doctorate of Philosophy in Education, University of Central Florida
If you could invent anything, what would it be?
Cristina would like to invent something that detects when women and girls' knees are more susceptible to ACL tears.
