Access Lab · University of Georgia
About the
Access Lab
The people and purpose behind the work.
Who We Are
Engineering education
built for everyone
The Access Lab is a research group in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia, housed within the Engineering Education Transformations Institute (EETI). We focus on understanding engineering student lived experiences from a systems lens, recognizing that students’ experiences are shaped by interactions among people, policies, cultures and norms, technologies, and learning environments. Because of this, our research spans multiple levels of engineering education, methodological approaches, and areas of inquiry.
Our work examines how engineering environments support or constrain access, participation, and belonging, particularly for students whose experiences are underserved in engineering education. We are especially interested in accessibility and disability in engineering education, undergraduate student experiences, and sociotechnical design. Across these areas, we use design-based research and critical methodologies to understand barriers, examine how inequities are produced and maintained, and develop approaches that support more accessible and equitable engineering learning environments.
Dr. Rachel Figard
Assistant Professor of Engineering Education · University of Georgia
EETI & School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural, and Mechanical Engineering
Dr. Rachel Figard is an Assistant Professor of Engineering Education at the University of Georgia, with joint appointments in the Engineering Education Transformations Institute (EETI) and the School of Environmental, Civil, Agricultural, and Mechanical Engineering (ECAM). She joined UGA in 2024 after completing her doctorate at Arizona State University, where she received an NSF Graduate Research Fellowship in recognition of her research on disability and equity in STEM education.
Dr. Figard’s work sits at the intersection of disability studies, engineering education research, and sociotechnical design. She uses critical qualitative and mixed methods to examine how undergraduate engineering students — particularly those who are disabled, multiply marginalized, or historically excluded — experience, navigate, and resist the structures of engineering culture.
Her research has appeared in the IEEE Transactions on Education, Journal of Engineering Education, Policy Futures in Education, and at ASEE and IEEE Frontiers in Education conferences.
PhD Students
Current Members
Access Lab members are listed here with their research areas, degree programs, and contact information. PhD students are listed first, followed by undergraduate researchers.
Chima Umeaku
Ph.D. in Engineering Education · Expected Spring 2029
Instructional Design, Alternative Learning Pathways, and Accessibility
Xuan Wang
Ph.D. in Engineering Education · Expected Spring 2029
NLP, Engineering Identity Formation, AI Integration in Education
Undergraduate Researchers
Lab Graduates
Alumni
| Name | Degree & Major | Graduated | Current Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| The Access Lab launched in 2024. | |||