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Current Masters Students
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Daniel Abehouse,
Katherine Appleton,
Gem Bleasdell,
Jennifer Boriss,
Gabe Clapper.
Anne Connell,
Joshua Ehlke,
Nicholas Ferrara,
Gabriel Golcher,
Matthew Guibert,
William Haines,
Christopher Horn,
Harold Bradley Hunt,
Jaanus Kase,
Rex Kilian,
Tae-Sun Kim,
Holger Kuehnle,
Bridget Lewis,
Jon Maloto,
Adam Matthews,
Roderick McMullen,
Vedant Mehta,
Gregory Mueller,
Zoe Ouyang,
Christopher Adam Overholtzer,
Bharathi Pitti,
Ajay Prasad,
Minjie Qian,
Richard Ram,
Yong Rhee,
Eun Jeong Ryu,
Ceren Sakizli,
Steven Selzer,
Gungchan Seol,
James Soracco,
Jiwoo Suh,
Margaret Szeto,
Marina Virnik,
Jacqueline Weber,
Joshua Weihnacht,
Elliot Wiliiams,
Xie Yingyu,
Diana Yu,
Raymond Yun,
Yue Zhao |
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¨Daniel Abehouse is
a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Katherine
Appleton is a new MHCI student who will have a biography
here soon.
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| Gem Bleasdell is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Jennifer Boriss is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Gabe Clapper is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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 Anne
Connell is a graduate from Carnegie Mellon University where
she holds a BS in Information Systems, Communication Design. She is enrolled
part-time in the MHCI program, and is currently employed by the Carnegie
Mellon School of Design. There, she works as the Computer Technology
Manager, providing support to the faculty, staff and students. She has
taught two courses, Computer Basics for Communication Design (51-223)
as well as Design Computing Skills Workshop (51-131). In the Spring,
she will teach Intermediate Web Programming in Design.
Her current research interests include interaction technologies
for the web as well as physical and digital environments that support
collaboration in key environments. While a valuable pursuit, she
also enjoys spending time with her family, swimming, basketball and
playing guitar.
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| Joshua Ehlke is a part time Master in Human-Computer Interaction student and expects to graduate in August 2008. He graduated with a B.S. in Software Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering in 2003. He currently works at Motorola, developing multimedia software applications for mobile phones.
He is interested in methods for applying HCI to real world products and figuring out how to better incorporate HCI into software design and development processes. He is interested in the design of mobile device interfaces and other cool things.
Outside of school and work, Josh enjoys exploring new neighborhoods, playing SimCity and watching movies with friends. He just got his first motorcycle before coming to Pittsburgh, and one day, might even get the courage to regularly ride it among Pittsburgh drivers.
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Emanuel Fernandes : I graduated
from University of Madeira (Portugal) in 2007 with a degree in Computer
Science. At my final year project course I built interactive animations,
using web cameras, phidgets (physical widgets) and Flash. Due to some
success in some of the animations I was hired for one month at Anturio
Corporation to build another interactive animation that will be held
at an exposition center in Madeira.
The best approach to develop good software I've learned so far was the
Usage-Centered Design by Larry Constantine. It is a simple and straightforward
way to develop usable software and is based on real work experience of
the author.
One of the main reasons for taking this master at HCI is the inter-disciplinary
approach that it has, being one of my goals to learn a lot from other
fields besides Computer Science such as Psychology and Design and I really
wanted to get in touched with the American Teaching System.
I like good food, watching films, making sports (mainly soccer) and social
meetings especially when there are international folks. I am an Apple
software evangelist (even if I don't have an Apple laptop, I will buy
one in the near future!) and for my spear times in front of my computer
I like to try new software considering usability aspects only. Just like
to try new software no matter the purpose of it!
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Nicholas Ferrara graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a BS in Information Sciences and a related area of Business. He is currently working fulltime at PPG Industries while attending school part time. At PPG Nick works on the Remote Access team which is responsible for things such as VPNs and mobile devices.
Nick became interested in HCI when he took a class on the subject during his undergrad studies at Pitt. After taking the class he realized that HCI is something that is really missing in a lot of products and applications that are on the market today. By obtaining a masters in HCI Nick hopes to bridge the gap between end users and technology because there is no use in having software that can do amazing things if people do not understand how to use it.
In his spare time, Nick likes to go to the gym, ride his mountain bike, hang out with friends, and of course watch the Steelers since he is a native Pittsburgher!
Nick plans on graduating from the program in the summer of 2009.
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| Gabriel Golcher a native of San José, Costa Rica, is currently a full-time Human-Computer Interaction Masters student expecting to graduate in August 2007. For his undergraduate education, he obtained a triple major in Computer Science, Software Engineering, and Mathematics from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. At the same time, he obtained minors in both Spanish and Economics from said institution.
In the pursuit of his true calling, Gabriel has held several internships with such companies as: Freescale Semiconductor, KPMG, and BuscAZ.com. It is through these experiences that Gabriel learned about the difficulties and challenges people face when using technology to accomplish their goals. As a Computer Scientist with a flair for the front-end, his ultimate goal is to design user interfaces that allow consumers to complete their tasks more efficiently and intuitively.
When Gabriel is not slaving away at his coursework, he can be found shouting at the soccer match on his TV screen, spending time with his friends, or dazzling spectators with his insane foosball skills.
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Matt Guibert (pronounced
'gibear' -- like 'Yogi Bear' without the 'yo') graduated from UCLA with
a BS in cognitive science and a specialization in computing in 2005.
If it had been available, he also would have double majored in Bruin
football and basketball -- back to back final fours! Shortly after graduating,
Matt was snatched out of the free agent market by Systems Technology,
an employee-owned engineering firm in Los Angeles. Before making a memorable
(except for Kansas) cross-country move to Pittsburgh with his brother
and sister, he finished up a 2-year research contract with the U.S. Air
Force in which he developed everything from the GUI to the graphics for
the Combat Airspace Visualization and Planning System -- a 3D mission
planning application designed for fighter pilots. It was then that he
decided to pursue a masters in HCI from CMU to obtain a better understanding
for designing usable 3D interfaces.
Matt is not one to waste vacation time -- he is an avid traveler and
outdoorsman just like his parents. Some highlights include ascents
of Mt. Shasta (California) and Mt. St. Helens (Washington), white water
rafting on the Rogue River (Oregon), snowboarding in Olympic Park (Utah),
backpacking along the East Coast (New York, Massachusetts, etc), and
bow hunting with his grandfather. His most recent adventure was a 2-week
trip to Argentina in February '07.
Website: www.mattguibert.com
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William Haines is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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| Christopher Horn is currently a part-time Master's student in CMU's Human Computer Interaction Institute (HCII). In 2001, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics from Brown University. Since then, he has worked in both for-profit and non-profit settings, including four years in the Washington, D.C. office of the RAND Corporation. Through his work, Chris has explored both the technical and human sides of complex problems. He has worked to establish face recognition biometric standards, requirements for a large-scale biometric identification system, and an understanding of how military performance depends on the mode of communication.
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Harold Bradley Hunt is a Philadelphia native with a Computer Science degree from Virginia Tech. He has done computer science research in collaboration and the importance of place. He has also done organic chemistry research in small, shiny molecules called quantum dots. Brad was drawn to the HCII largely by the prospect of writing an awkward 3rd person bio, but also to develop into an HCI professional and round out his skill set. When he's not busy being overly-enthusiastic about humans, computers, or interactions, you are likely to find him eating, cooking, or rooting for his favorite football teams, the Philadelphia Eagles and the Virginia Tech Hokies.
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| Filipa Jervis is originally from Madeira, Portugal. She graduated in 2004 with a degree in Clinical Psychology from ISPA (Instituto Superior de Psicologia Aplicada).
As a senior, she did research in Childhood Depression. After graduating, she taught English as a foreign language at The Kids Club, both in Lisbon and in Madeira.
She is currently an HCI Master student and hopes to finish this new project in December 2008. She is one of the first three students to come to CMU to attend the HCI/UMa Masters Program.
In her spare time, Filipa enjoys horse riding, hydro-gymnastics, reading and listening to music.
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| Jaanus Kase : I received my undergraduate degree in 2002 in Public Administration from Tartu University, Estonia, with minor in Public Relations. Besides that, I've self-educated myself in all things computing and have a general passion for technology. I spent the past few years working in a variety of public and private settings, including an information security product development company and Estonian nationwide electronic ID card project, where my role was to manage corporate communications and web content and platform.
My most recent adventure was at Skype where I spent three years contributing to a little piece of software that lets the whole world talk for free. I watched it grow from relative obscurity into a global community that now ranges to hundreds of millions. I worked in different positions and was privileged to be exposed to all aspects of product development and deployment, ranging from technical product management and UI/feature design to technical website operations, web development, payment and antifraud operations, marketing and PR. It was at Skype that I developed a deeper interest in HCI foundations and practices that I've now come to explore to Carnegie Mellon. I'm hoping to become part of organizations and products that make people's lives better in a profound way and with major impact.website: go to top |
 Rex Kilian has a real passion for interactivity within the realm of Computer Science and is constantly seeking to bridge the gap between design and technology. He earned his Bachelor's of Science degree from Grove City College focusing on a split major of Business and Computer Systems Management. Then after spending 6 years in software development he decided to enter a graduate program at Duquesne University where he obtained a Master's of Science degree in Multimedia Technology. It was while enrolled in that program that he was introduced to the discipline of HCI and the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at CMU.
His career experience includes development of E-Learning material, On-line Training content, and E-Commerce business applications. One area of specific interest is on-line location-based mapping applications which utilize geospacial data, satellite imagery, and topographical terrain data. He has also worked as a freelance developer of Computer Based Training CDs and interactive Museum Exhibit Kiosks. During that time he has worked for Educational Institutions, Telecommunications Companies, and the Rail Road Commerce Industry.
It has been this development experience that has brought him to the realization of the importance of the user experience and the need for a user-centered design.
Rex has also been a part of more than a dozen week long wilderness expeditions focused on leadership development in the roles of technical wilderness guide and trip leader.website: go to top
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Tae-Sun Kim is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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| Holger Kuehnle did his undergraduate studies at the University of Bremen, Germany and the State University of New York at Buffalo and graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in digital media. His undergraduate thesis focused on the usability of new window management techniques for desktop systems which led him to further pursue his interests in HCI by aiming to achieve a Masters in HCI at Carnegie Mellon in August 2008. Before entering the MCHI programme, Holger worked in the internetmarketing team of Volkswagen AG, Germany where he managed several multimedia web projects. Even though it seems to be mostly the bad interfaces which become famous, having worked with many of the usual suspects of multimedia production tools throughout his life as well as teaching some of them in undergraduate classes, he has always been fascinated by how a good interface can not only make people work more efficiently but how it may also make work a lot more fun and creative.website: go to top |
Bridget Lewis is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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| Jon Maloto Jon Maloto is a graduate of Northwestern University with a dual bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering. He participated in the Co-operative Education Program that enabled him to gain work experience as a programmer at Mythryn LLC (multimedia production) and as a web developer at Peel, Inc. (e-commerce). Through these co-op placements and through serving as webmaster for several student organizations, he developed a passion for creating user-friendly tools that assist people in their day-to-day tasks. He hopes to make the world a better place one user interface at a time.
Currently a full-time MHCI student, he expects to graduate in August 2008. In his spare time, he enjoys watching and talking about movies, and can be found attempting to enlighten people on Hong Kong and the Philippines, where he spent his formative years.website: go to top |
Adam Matthews graduated with a B.Sc. in Cognitive Systems from The University of British Columbia. After doing work in this cross-disciplinary field, and being housed in the Computer Science Department, the step to Human-Computer Interaction seemed a natural one. His main goals in studying HCI lie in improving quality of life through improved interfaces- at home, at work, in the medical field, etc. He believes that, while computers have become ubiquitous in developed countries, they are still not being used to their full potential.
Adam is from Vancouver, Canada, and like any true Canadian he enjoys watching and playing the great game of hockey. Other interests include skiing, swimming, and playing tennis.
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Roderick McMullen is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Vedant Mehta is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Gregory Mueller is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Zoe Ouyang is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Christopher Adam Overholtzer is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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| Catarina Pereira : I always loved design especially graphic, interaction and web design.
I graduated from ESEC, Coimbra in 2007 with a degree in Communication and Multimedia Design.
During my degree I got in touch with many different technologies in the field of communication and design, video, audio, some programming languages. Throughout my degree I also had some Psychology and Human-Computer Interaction classes.
The fact that I had the opportunity of learning from such a wide range of disciplines and experiencing how they all work together helped me to know for sure that I had chosen the right path for me.
Attending this Master in Human-Computer Interaction is like giving a step forward in my education. My goal is to know exactly how to design user-friendly interfaces and systems taking advantage of the techniques and skills I am developing at MHCI. I want to make the users happy!
Besides working and studying I like good music, good movies, good food, traveling and whenever possible going out and having lots of fun.
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Bharathi Pitti is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Ajay Prasad is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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 Minjie
Qianbelieves that technology advance will narrow the gap between
classes, foster the global knowledge sharing and ultimately promote the
social welfare. He is excited about breakthrough innovation and how the
technology will change the world.
He graduated from Zhejiang University, China, with a bachelor degree
of psychology and behavior science, and also an honor degree of innovation
and entrepreneurship from ZhuKezhen College.
Being engaged in start-up and taking various roles in the team made
him view technology and new product development process from multiple
aspects. What he learned is that, three issues are important in the
product commercialization: the integrated solution coming from technology;
the experience coming from interaction between the user and product
and the value proposition for the customers.
And that is the reason why he joined this program. The multidiscipline
approaches give him not only the knowledge about human-computer interaction,
but also a board and systematic perspective of the product. Besides,
he is really thrilled by the chance to learn from interesting people.
He now focuses on collaborative filtering, which deals with how to
make the web more personalized, and usability engineering, an old but
important topic.
He enjoys writing on several issues including politics, business and
innovation. Peter Drucker is his favorite writer. He also likes backpacking
and cooking.
email, website
Email: qianminjie@gmail.com
Website: www.qianminjie.com
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Richard Ram is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Yong Rhee is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Eun Jeong Ryu graduated from Carnegie Mellon University in May 2005 with a B.S. in Computer Science and Psychology and a minor in Physics. She worked on Geometry Tutor, a software project, for the Pittsburgh Science of Learning Center (PSLC) during her senior year and remained there until June 2006.
After her stay at the PSLC, she returned to Hong Kong and learned Mandarin at the Chinese University in Hong Kong for one year. E.J. also took courses in drawing and Argentine Tango in University of Hong Kong. In addition to this, she also occupied her time teaching basic computer skills courses for women aged 40 to 65. After this experience, she truly understood the HCI mantra: "The User Is Not Like Me".
As for her non-academic side, E.J. likes doing little bit of everything: drawing, dancing, playing piano, cooking, writing, reading, golfing, etc. Note: this does not mean that she is good at any of these.
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Ceren Sakizli is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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| Steven Selzer received his Bachelor's of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Minor in Chinese Studies from the University of California, San Diego in 2004. While working as a technician with audio/visual department, a position that satisfied his desire to both work with music and apply his knowledge of low-level circuit design, he came to realize that there was a disconnect between functional design and the user experience; this realization was one of the salient events that began his quest to improve the user experience.
Steve has since worked for a company that designs automated fare collection systems for public transport, making interface improvements for transit authority operators and the one million public transit users per day in the Los Angeles area, including disabled patrons and foreign language-speaking users.
Steve is also a founding member of San Diego-based nonprofit Africa Aid and has helped developed the organization's identity and several programs in Africa. On his first trip to Africa, he trained Liberian refugees to interface with software specifically designed to educate deaf and blind children, realizing the potential for technology to efficiently and effectively educate and empower impoverished people.
Steve is excited about applying human-computer interaction to empower people working with technological tools, and hopes that technology will one day enable humans to transcend our physiological limitations.
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| Gungchan Seol is a graduate from Hongik University, South Korea, with a B.S. in Electronic and Electrical Engineering; he is currently a full-time MHCI student expecting to graduate in August 2007. During his college days, Chan was exposed to numerous fields of work in companies such as BearingPoint, LG Philips LCD, and Daewoo Information Systems. With his background of experiences, he has grown an interest in developing products for end-users and how the design of the product may affect the users' preference in the consumption of the product. At CMU, he hopes to reap from the various fields of knowledge in Human Computer Interaction and apply this knowledge to designing high-tech innovative product for users of the future. Growing up, Chan had interacted with a variety of cultures, even having the opportunity to live in Hong Kong; he recently went on a little tour around Europe and Asia and would love to spend more time on traveling; otherwise in his spare time, he loves to do everything but studying.
website: http://andrew.cmu.edu/~gseol
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James Soracco grew up in the North Hills area of Pittsburgh, Pa and entered Carnegie Mellon University back in 2003 as a student in Design. Since then he has graduated with University Honors in Communication Design and Human-Computer Interaction. Feeling a strong desire to continue his education, James (JJ for short) enrolled in the Accelerated-Masters Program for Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon and will be completing the Masters program by the end of 2007. One thing that he has stressed is the value of his education and wants to continue to learn as much as possible wherever he goes.
Before he was a Senior, James was an intern for Apple Inc. as a designer on iWeb '08 and the full iWork '08 suite (Keynote, Pages, and Numbers), working on designing new features along with the look and behavior of the applications. He continued his internship part-time with the Cupertino-based design group all throughout his senior year at Carnegie Mellon by working at Apple's Pittsburgh office.
JJ's interests are in graphic, communication, computational, interaction and experience design as well as designing new features for software and the interesting and complex problems that arise.
website: soraccophoto.com/design
resumé: download
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Jiwoo Suh is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Margaret Szeto is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Marina Virnik graduated from Brandeis University in 2007 with degrees in Psychology, and Computer Science with highest honors. She also completed minors in Mathematics and Internet Studies. While searching for a way to combine her interests in technology, design and behavioral science Marina discovered Human Computer Interaction. Since then, she has worked on a variety HCI projects, including research at the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon, a senior honors thesis on awareness in computer supported collaborative work, and concept and interaction design at the Ericsson Mobility World. When she's not designing user friendly interfaces Marina enjoys painting landscapes, reading and theatre, especially musicals.
Marina is a fulltime student in the MHCI program and will graduate in August 2008.
resumé: download
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Jacqueline Weber fell in love with HCI several years ago when she took an Introduction to HCI course at Brandeis, and read The Design of Everyday Things. Having long held the dual interests of psychology and computer science, HCI seemed like a wonderful combination of the two.
She graduated from Wellesley College in 2007 with a degree in Cognitive and Linguistic Science, along with a minor in Psychology. Working at the Wellesley Faculty/Staff HelpDesk allowed her to see firsthand the unnecessary and frustrating difficulties that users face. Hopefully, her training in HCI will help her design software that will be enjoyable to use.
She spent the past two summers as a Human Factors intern for Charles River Analytics in Boston. This job included tasks such as software usability analysis and designing and programming part of the GUI of a software interface.
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Joshua Weihnacht received
a double major in Computer Science and Film and Media Studies and an
Art History minor from the University of Florida in 2000. During the
dotcom bust, he worked as a Senior Creative Developer at Viant, an internet
consultancy in New York. Afterwards, he was a consultant for Merck pharmaceuticals
doing web site development.
He has decided to return to graduate school to pursue his long held interest
Human Computer Interaction and focus more on the issues of user interaction
that have always been the most interesting aspect of his job.
Other interests include Modern and Contemporary art, movies (especially
Essay Films), video games, and sake.
email josh
website: http://www.inputpattern.com
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 Elliot Williams is
a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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 Yingyu(Clare)
Xie
graduated
from Xi'an Jiaotong University (China) in 2005 with a concentration
in user-modeling in design, and then subsequently had acquired two
years of professional experience in usability-testing and user research
for business projects. In addition to spending most of the time to
work on multidiciplinary teams, She often switched her roles between "researcher" and "designer".
Clare has always been interested in user behavior online since the
completion of her graduate thesis, ¡°User-interface Investigation & Usability
Test between Taobao and eBay.¡± After that, She has been
involved in the usability test and page revision for China Alibaba,
the NEC mobile phone usability test, the HP user-interface usability
test (Touch UI/Aio/Pi)and several others. The pressured experience
of testing 72 users in 3 weeks and finishing data-analyzing in 1 week
made her believe there could be more efficient way (more effective
but less data-waste) for usability management, as well as the product
management.
Outside the HCI, Clare enjoys chess, cooking, tennis and spending
time with friends. She plans to graduate with a Masters in HCI,School
of CS, Carnegie Mellon University, in August of 2008.
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Diana Yu is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Raymond Yun is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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Yue Zhao is a new MHCI student who will have a biography here soon.
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