Sara Laura Wilson is a third-year PhD candidate pursuing an Interdisciplinary Doctoral Degree in Sustainable Design and Computation in Mechanical Engineering. Working in the Ideation Lab with Professor Maria Yang, she develops computational tools, informed by behavioral psychology and human-centered design principles, to identify actionable design interventions for lowering barriers to sustainable behavior. Her goal is to make sustainable choices both intuitive and desirable. Therefore, a key focus of her work is creating a cyclical process where user input and feedback continuously inform both the development of computational tools and the designs they generate.

Sara earned an M.S. from Imperial College London and an M.A. from the Royal College of Art in a joint program in Innovation Design Engineering, following her bachelor’s in Materials Science and Engineering from MIT. She has developed a strong teaching portfolio as a Teaching Assistant for Introduction to Design (2.00) and Product Design and Development (2.739), where she helps foster collaborative and interdisciplinary learning. Beyond academia,

Sara is a passionate advocate for climate action through art. She led an exhibition, “Interwoven: The Interdisciplinarity of Sustainability at MIT,” which invited participants across disciplinary and social boundaries to contribute to collective art pieces exploring sustainable habits and lifestyles. A lifelong pianist and composer, she has contributed to sustainability initiatives at music festivals through climate art workshops and waste management programs. When not on campus, Sara travels the world to explore contemporary art museums and attend K-pop concerts.