Mirela teaches, develops curriculum and conducts applied research at British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) in the School of Computing and Academic Studies where she is the Program Head for the Bachelor of Science in Applied Computer Science Program. Her background is in computer engineering and technology education. She teaches computer architecture, human-computer interaction, programming, software engineering and operating systems, and is actively involved in the BCIT community. She was a leader of several curriculum changes. Her research interests include advanced learning technologies, computer science education, and diversity and inclusion in STEM. She was awarded the BCIT VP Research Seed Fund to conduct the study entitled “Building Advanced Learning Technologies for Improving Girls’ and Women’s Participation in STEM”.