Zara Mirmalek
Zara Mirmalek studies technology and culture in science and high-tech work. She examines relationships between humans and machines and how these affect knowledge production. Two particular emphases are the cultural production of temporal rhythms in organizations and the ways in which coupling new technologies with conventional work structures shape membership (performance, roles, tasks, and evaluation). Mirmalek is developing an account of how intercultural communication among humans and machines can support or suppress social change. Her doctoral research comprised of a study of people, processes, and tools on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers mission, for which Mirmalek conducted one year of ethnographic fieldwork. Her book manuscript is in progress, “Working Time on Mars: Humans, Robots, and the Cultural Processes of Interplanetary Exploration.” She holds a PhD in Communication and Science Studies from UC San Diego; MPA in Public Administration and Public Policy from CSU East Bay, and a BA in History.	(Image from 1947 Monsanto Chemical Company) Areas of Interest: Work, Access to Technology Innovation, and Professional Identity	Current Position: Visiting Scholar Program in Science, Technology, and Society Massachusetts Institute of Technology zaram at mit edu
Areas of Expertise and Interest Cultural Anthropology of Science and Technology Organizational Communication New Technologies and Intercultural Communication Public Understanding of Technology and Science Human Machine Work Relationships Temporality and Post-Industrial Work	Image from 1972 The New Yorker Area of Interest: “Sam” the robot flagman: the transnational permutations of a human-machine social relationship	Publications Mindell D.A. and Mirmalek, Z., (2011) “An Ethnographic Approach to Human-Machine Relationships in Commercial Aviation: Heads-Up Guidance and Enhanced Vision.” Proc. 49th AIAA Aerospace Sciences Meeting, January 2011 (Orlando, FL). Mirmalek, Z. (2009) Dreaming of Space, Imagining Membership. Journal of Management and Organization History. 4 (3), pp.299-315. Mirmalek, Z. (2008) Working time on Mars.  KronoScope 8 (2), pp. 159-178. Mirmalek, Z. (2008). Solar discrepancies: Mars exploration and the curious problem of interplanetary time. Doctoral thesis, University of California San Diego, La Jolla. [abstract] Mirmalek, Z. (2008) Book review of Robert Hassan and Robert E. Purser, Eds. 24/7: Time and Temporality in the Network Society. KronoScope 8 (1).
Teaching Research Experience Presentations Associations Awards and Honors	Image by Z. Mirmalek 2004 Extra seating on NASA’s Mars Exploration Rovers mission	Mirmalek, Z. (2007). NASA noir, a review of Phillip K. Tompkins, Apollo, Challenger, Columbia: The Decline of the Space Program. Review of Communication, 7(3).  Wales, R., O'Neill, J., & Mirmalek, Z. (2002). Ethnography, Negotiated Interactions, and Customers at the Airport. IEEE: Intelligent Systems Special issue on HCC at NASA, pp. 15-23. Mirmalek, Z. (2001). Navigating subcultures. Master's thesis, California State University of Hayward.