Dr. Rehmat, is a Senior Research Scientist at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the Center for Education Integrating Science, Mathematics, and Computing (CEISMC). Her path to engineering education research is unconventional, she began with a degree in computer science, spent years teaching in K-8 classrooms, and earned a Ph.D. in Engineering Education before completing postdoctoral fellowships across three distinct disciplines: engineering education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, learning sciences at Indiana University, and pre-college engineering at Purdue University. That breadth is reflected in both the questions she asks and the research methods she employes.
Dr. Rehmat’s research focuses on how learners develop engineering thinking, computational reasoning, and problem-solving skills, and how emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, can be translated into meaningful K-12 learning experiences. A consistent thread across her work is teacher development: she is as invested in building educator capacity as she is in understanding student learning. Throughout her career, she has contributed to multiple NSF- and IES-funded projects spanning biologically inspired design, integrated STEM curriculum, computational thinking in early STEM learning, and computer based simulated systems thinking assessment. At Georgia Tech, she serves as Co-PI on the Provost Teaching and Learning Grant to develop an AI-assisted online course.
Her scholarship spans peer-reviewed journals, conference proceedings, and curriculum exchanges, and has been recognized with the 2025 Achievement in Research Innovation Award at CEISMC, the 2024 Editor’s Choice Article in the Journal of Biomimetics, and the 2021 Outstanding Research Paper Award in the Journal of Digital Learning in Teacher Education, among other national honors.
Dr. Rehmat is an active member in her field. Beginning in 2026, she serves as Program Chair for ASEE's Pre-College Engineering Education (PCEE) Division, having previously served as its Secretary/Treasurer. She also serves as a delegate for ASEE's Educational Research and Methods (ERM) Division and on the editorial board of the Journal of STEM Education. At Georgia Tech, she leads the Engineering Education in K-12 team in the Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program, where she mentors undergraduate and graduate students in designing tangible and interactive learning tools that enrich K-12 learning experiences.
She holds a Ph.D. in STEM Education with a concentration in Engineering Education from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a B.S. in Computer Science from St. John’s University, New York.
