Melissa Jawaharlal is a co-founder of STEM Center USA and engineer at Raytheon Space and Airborne Systems.^[1]

She studied at the University of Edinburgh and earned her Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Southern California. Melissa's research field is primarily in space exploration in which she's served as a lead designer for currently orbiting satellites at the Information Sciences Institute (ISI). Additionally, Melissa has performed software optimization for the United States Air Force.

She has presented her work at M.I.T. through the Lemelson-MIT InvenTeams program as well as through NCIIA and Inventors Digest .

Melissa Jawaharlal is passionate about hands-on, experiential learning and seeks to revolutionize K–12 STEM education. She is an avid traveler and enjoys scuba diving.