Christopher Pullen: Engineering Impact through STEM Education in Philadelphia

MS Mechanical Engineering

Christopher Pullen is a master’s student in Mechanical Engineering in Temple University’s College of Engineering, where his work focuses on robotics, AI, and hands-on problem solving. He also serves as program director for Coco Academy in South Philadelphia, combining his technical expertise with a passion for STEM education and community engagement.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. 

How did you first become interested in Temple?

I initially studied at Bucks County Community College which has a direct transfer program with Temple, meaning that all my general education credits could be transferred to Temple. At first, I wasn’t exactly thrilled about going to college, so I wanted to go with an affordable option. My parents urged me to stick with it, though, and in the end I’m glad that I did.

What drew you to pursue a degree in mechanical engineering?

I was drawn to mechanical engineering because I enjoy building and problem solving in a hands-on way. In high school, I started a small 3D-printing side hustle, which showed me how much I enjoyed turning ideas into functional, real-world solutions. Projects like the MiniPupper robot dog and my senior design project reinforced this interest by pushing me to design, test, and iterate on unique solutions rather than follow step-by-step instructions.

Now that you’re at Temple, how would you describe your experience with the coursework?

I’d say my expectations have been exceeded. When I transferred in, I was able to find a lot of courses that interested me. From the very beginning, for example, I wanted to make sure that I took every robotics course I could. There’s a lot of good professors teaching some really fun and interesting classes, but students have to be intentional in seeking them out because not all of them are required.
 

What sort of career pursuits are you undertaking in addition to your studies?

Right now, I’m working as the program director for Coco Academy in South Philadelphia. It’s an educational startup that is essentially an afterschool maker space for kids, like shop class for elementary schoolers. Each week, they come in to work on different STEM and STEAM projects, and my job is to prepare and design those projects. It can be tough—if you want to make a walking robot, for example, how do you design the instructions so that a kindergartener can understand them, while still making it interesting enough for a fifth grader to learn something? It’s difficult sometimes, but I think we’ve done well so far. 

We’ve opened two locations and teach about two hundred students weekly. There’s been a lot of growth in the company, and I have a feeling that it’s going to continue growing year after year. I plan to stay with them after I graduate, just because it’s such a fun job. I enjoy telling people that I get to build toys all day for work, and it’s fulfilling to teach students about engineering and science from an early age. There are so many people who don’t necessarily think about everything that goes into, say, making our cars or our phones work, and I think it’s important that the kids understand more about our world and all the things that are going on around them. We try to teach them these concepts on a very simple level at first so that they can relate them to bigger things in the real world later on.

Where do you find community at Temple?

I’ve found community at Temple through friends who share a similar drive and passion for engineering. I’ve also built strong connections with professors who are genuinely invested in seeing their students excel and who actively support our growth both inside and outside the classroom.