Design of Computational Media for Formal and Informal Learning

Bakhtiar Mikhak is co-founder of Media Modifications, Ltd. He completed his MS and PhD in theoretical elementary particle physics at the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and received his BA in physics from the University of California at Berkeley. Aside from his work at the Extension School, he has taught at the UCLA physics department, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) teacher education program, and the MIT media laboratory, where he was also a visiting research scientist. At MIT, he founded and directed the Grassroots Invention Group, served as a principal investigator and the technical director for the National Science Foundation (NSF)-funded Playful Invention and Exploration (PIE) network of museums, and launched and led the FabLab program as the outreach director for the NSF Center for Bits and Atoms. Mikhak's research has focused on inventing and studying technologies that offer new opportunities for creative learning in formal and informal settings. Mikhak has made significant contributions to the development of programming languages and digital construction kits that laid the foundation for the LEGO MindStorms Robotic Invention System, Pico Products, and Scratch programming language.