Maggie Nelson is a materials scientist, engineer, and PhD student in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at MIT. Her work explores how materials can shape and mediate human experience, advancing a vision of affective engineering in which technical performance and human experience are inseparable design criteria.

She focuses on material systems that enable dynamic interaction between humans and technology, rethinking interfaces not as static tools but as adaptable, embodied experiences. Her work aims to translate complex physical phenomena into intuitive, human-centered interactions that enhance agency, comfort, and engagement.

Drawing on feminist aesthetics, she examines how power and bias become embedded in material and technological systems, and how these systems can be redesigned to support autonomy and dignity. She challenges the assumption that engineering is neutral, instead treating materials as sites where cultural values and identities are actively constructed.

During her undergraduate degree at Auburn University, her research in polymer recycling and photocatalytic materials led to a peer-reviewed publication and many national recognitions. As a Churchill Scholar at the University of Cambridge, she developed slot-die coating methods for waveguide-encoded lattices for indoor photovoltaics.