Michael Minja is an Assistant Lecturer at the University of Dar es Salaam's College of Engineering and Technology since 2022, specializing in architecture and urban planning. He earned his Bachelor of Architecture from Ardhi University-Tanzania in 2017 and MSc in Urban Planning and Development from the University of Grenoble-France in 2020.

Besides being a registered architect with the Architects and Quantity Surveyors Registration Board of Tanzania (AQRB), he is a member of the Architects Association of Tanzania (AAT). Arch. Minja has worked on a number of diverse architectural projects, master plans and research projects, most recent ones being the  OpenDevEd: Improving Learning through Classroom Experience & Predictive Models for Classroom Condition research project and the World Bank's Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project (University of Dar es Salaam campuses in Lindi & Ruangwa, Tanzania).

His research interests focus on several frontiers of passive architecture design and urban sustainability, including climate change adaptation, Nature-based Solutions and Urban Heat Island particularly in rapidly growing urban areas in the tropics. He has also participated and attended various domestic and international professional development programs, workshops and symposia on sustainable architecture and urban sustainability; such as the workshop on Sustainability in the Construction Industry (University of Dar es Salaam; The Centre of Excellence on Technologies for Low-Carbon & Lean Construction & Indian Institute of Technology Madras); Adaptive Methods and Technologies in the Construction Industry in Tanzania (AQRB, 2024) and the Urban Planning for Transitions project (France, 2021).

His masters research examined the integration of shape-changing smart materials in building facades for improved indoor thermal performance of high-rise buildings in the tropics. Through his studies and experience, he remains dedicated to developing sustainable urban environments especially in the global-south.