Michelle graduated from the California Institute of Technology with a Bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering, and has worked around the world building prostheses, magnetic nanodrone helmets, cyborg artist organs, and underwater robots.

In 2023 she left her job to independently research issues with the power grid, and while studying voltage transformers and electrical steel manufacturing she began thinking about ways to create magnetic materials with controlled domain orientation that could be varied at any point in a bulk magnet. Over the course of the inaugural Brains fellowship from Speculative Technologies, she developed a research proposal and greater conviction in 3D-printed magnets, and started experimenting in her home lab.