Ms. Yiyun Zhang

Doctoral Candidate

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Historical and ongoing discrimination among identity groups by racial, gender and other identity differences leads to persistent social inequalities and technology often entrenches or sustains these hierarchies in our society. This phenomenon exists in various fields and is evident in the space sector. The Intersectional Antiracist Technology Framework, developed by Prof Wood and Dr. Turner of the Space Enabled Research Group at MIT, is a novel framework to analyze how technology across different scales can promote antiracist outcomes. The framework uses Systems Architecture to explain, evaluate and design approaches to incorporate Intersectional Antiracism within the Definition, Design and Distribution lifecycle phases of technology. This framework considers four levels of Technology Scales including Concept, Artifact, Complex Product System and Complex Sociotechnical System. In this research work, Zero Robotics is being used as the first case study to analyze and improve the access and inclusion in Aerospace Engineering by applying the Intersectional Antiracist Technology Framework. Zero Robotics is an international space robotics competition for secondary school students to use space robotics systems aboard the ISS. The study of Zero Robotics includes the methods to describe, explain and evaluate its current state and enable it to improve future designs that can foster antiracist program outcomes. This work is the first attempt to apply the theoretical framework to an existing technology system that is also currently being managed by the researcher. The outcomes of the work will provide insights to the design of education outreach programs in Aerospace and set the foundation for applying the Intersectional Antiracism Technology Framework in real world cases.