Background Diverse perspectives, including those of Native Americans, are needed to drive innovation in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM). Tribes such as the Navajo Nation are seeking to strengthen their communities, create economic opportunities, and improve the lives of their peoples by encouraging members of their tribe to become engineers. Research investigating how Navajo engineers experience and understand engineering design and practice in the context of their culture and community can provide insight into how to engage Navajo students in pathways to careers in STEM. Purpose/Hypothesis The purpose of the study was to identify and investigate the ways in which Navajo engineers experience, understand, and apply engineering design and practice in the context of their culture and community. Design/Method A phenomenographic approach was used to explore the ways that Navajo engineers experience and understand the phenomena of engineering design and practice in the context of their culture and community. A total of 20 Navajo engineers were interviewed for this study. Results Four qualitatively distinct lenses on how Navajo engineers experience and understand engineering design and practice embedded in the culture of the Navajo community were identified as (a) Navajo‐centered behavior, (b) Navajo‐centered purpose, (c) Navajo‐centered strategy, and (d) Navajo‐centered application. Conclusions The results of the study provide a deeper understanding of how Navajo engineers experience similarities and differences between Navajo culture and engineering design and practice, and provide a foundation for the development of culturally responsive engineering design curricula for classrooms in the Navajo Nation.

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, and has co-developed the STEAM Labs TM program to engage middle and high school students in learning science, technology, engineering, arts, and math concepts through designing and building chain reaction machines. He has appeared on many TV shows (including Modern Marvels on The History Channel and Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC) and a movie with his Rube Goldberg machines, and worked as a behind-the scenes engineer for season 3 of the PBS engineering design reality TV show, Design Squad. He also held the Guinness World Record for the largest number of steps -125 -in a working Rube Goldberg machine.

-developed the STEAM Labs TM program to engage middle and high school students in learning science, technology, engineering, arts, and math concepts through designing and building chain reaction machines. He founded and led teams to two collegiate Rube Goldberg Machine Contest national championships, and has appeared on many TV shows (including Modern Marvels on The History Channel and Jimmy Kimmel Live on ABC) and a movie with his chain reaction machines. He serves on the Board of the i.d.e.a. Museum in Mesa, AZ, and worked as a behind-the scenes engineer for season 3 of the PBS engineering design reality TV show Design Squad. He also held the Guinness World Record for the largest number of steps -125 -in a working Rube Goldberg machine.Dr. Kalvin White, Department of Dine Education, Navajo Nation Kalvin White, Ph.D. is from White Cone, Arizona. He earned his doctorate in Counseling Psychology in 1998 from the University of Utah. Dr. White is currently employed with the Office of Dine Science, Math, and Technology within the Department of Dine Education under the Executive Branch of the Navajo Nation Government. Dr. White was the Principal Investigator of the Navajo Nation Rural Systemic Initiative. In 1998 the Navajo Nation received a National Science Foundation grant with the charge to close the achievement gap that exists on the Navajo Nation between Navajo and non-Navajo students in math and science. The NN-RSI documented the closing of the achievement gap at the end of the grant award August 2005. Through the efforts of the NN-RSI the Navajo Nation has sustained the NN-RSI with Navajo Nation funds as the Office of Dine Science, Math and Technology. As such, Dr. White and the staff of the Dine Science, Math, and Technology continue to advance the systemic initiatives within the Navajo Nation. Ieshya K Anderson, Arizona State UniversityIeshya Anderson is Naakétł'áhí (Tohono O'odham), born for Tł'ááshchí'í. Her cheii is Naakétł'áhí and her nálí is Tódích'íi'nii. Ieshya graduated from Arizona State University, Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering with a Bachelor of Science in Engineering, emphasis in electrical systems. She is pursuing her PhD in Engineering Education Systems and Design at Arizona State University. Ieshya also continues to work with Dr. Shawn Jordan to develop engineering design curricula for middle school students on the Navajo reservation and facilitates Dr. Jordan's STEAM Machines TM outreach camps across the Navajo Nation with the ambition to expand to Tohono O'odham Nation. Work in Progress: Culturally-Relevant Engineering Design Curriculum for the Navajo NationThe mission of this research is to develop a theory of culturally-contextualized engineering design curricula and assessment tools for Navajo middle school students, grounded in a study of how Navajo students and Navajo professionals experience, understand, and apply engineering design in the context of their culture, community, and society. This foundation will support future educational innovations and illuminate pathways for Na...