Toward a Public Rhetoric Through Participatory Design: Critical Engagements and Creative Expression in the Neighborhood Networks Project

Carl DiSalvo is an Assistant Professor in the Digital Media program in the School of Literature, Communication, and Culture, at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Since 2010, DiSalvo has also served as the book review editor for DesignIssues.

Marti Louw is Research Faculty, University of Pittsburgh Center for Learning in Out-of-School Environments (UPCLOSE). Her research and project work focuses on how design and its related communication strategies can be used to create media-rich learning experiences that support participation and shared meaning-making with science and technology.

David Holstius is a PhD student in Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California, Berkeley. His research is concerned with the health effects of traffic-related pollution, participatory research and citizen science. Prior to his PhD studies, David worked as a design researcher at Carnegie Mellon University and MAYA Design.

Illah Nourbakhsh is Professor of Robotics, director of the Community Robotics, Education and Technology Empowerment (CREATE) lab and head of the Robotics Master's Program in The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. His current research projects explore community-based robotics, including educational and social robotics and ways to use robotic technology to empower individuals and communities.

Ayça Akin is an Interaction Designer at R/GA in New York. She received her MDes from Carnegie Mellon University in 2008. In her work she focuses on the role of design and technology in helping people shape the environments in which they want to live.