Dr. Chao is a multi-award-winning researcher, educator, and mentor in Computer Science. She obtained a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2015 and an MSc in Computer Science from the University of Oxford in 2007. She also holds a BSc in Mathematics and Computer Science from Kenya Methodist University. Her current research focuses on supporting learners in resource-constrained environments, to learn to program using mobile devices.  Her work has been published in several international peer-reviewed journals and conference papers. For example, in 2019, her work was presented and published in the premier conference of Special Interest Group in Computer Science Education.

Dr. Chao has received several recognitions for her academic achievements, demonstrated leadership skills, and community involvement. For example, she was a winner of the 2014 Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship (EMEA), and she was a recipient of the 2015 Schlumberger Faculty for the Future award for women in STEM. She was also named as one of the 2017 Quartz Africa Innovators, was selected as a 2017 Techwomen Fellow, was awarded a Leadership ‘Zuri’ award for her positive contribution to the Kenyan community in 2018, and was also named as one of the 2018 Faces of Science in Kenya. In 2019, Dr. Chao was recognized by Okay! Africa as one of the women of African descent who are making a positive and impactful contribution to the youth in their communities. She was also selected as one of five winners of the 2020 OWSD-Elsevier Foundation Award in Engineering, Innovation, and Technology and the first Kenyan to win the award.

Dr. Chao is an active advocate for quality education and research.  She is now the Founder and Program Lead for KamiLimu, an impactful structured mentorship program for university students studying Computer Science students, which has a 50-50 composition of male and female students. The impact of the mentorship program has been recognized with a Silver award in the Nurturing Employability Category at the 2020 Reimagine Education Awards.

Dr. Chao is currently the Dean of the School of Science and Technology at Kenya Methodist University, where she is also a Researcher and Lecturer.