Paulo Blikstein is an Associate Professor of Communications, Media and Learning Technology Design Associate Professor, Columbia University. He was co-founder for Lemann Center (2008-2018). Paulo Blikstein was an Assistant Professor of Education and (by courtesy) Computer Science at Stanford University, and the director of the Transformative Learning Technologies Lab (TLTL). Inspired by the seminal work of Paulo Freire and Seymour Papert, Blikstein works on technological tools to improve the learning of science, engineering, and mathematics. He develops and reserches new tools for computer programming, educational robotics, and digital fabrication which enable children to learn by making, building, and doing, within powerful constructionist learning environments. He is especially concerned with the application of such technologies in underprivileged schools from developing countries. Blikstein is the co-inventor of the first open-source educational robotics platform, the GoGo Board, used in more than 10 countries and hundreds of schools. He also spearheads the FabLab@School project, building advanced fabrication labs in middle and high-schools in four continents, and the FabLearn conference, the first academic conference on the Maker's movement and Fablabs in education. Blikstein has received notable awards including two Google Faculty Awards, and the National Science Foundation Early Career Award, the highest honor conferred by the U.S. government on exceptional scientists and engineers beginning their careers. Blikstein is one of the founders and executive director of the Center for Educational Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Brazil at Stanford.
