The Team
CALO Stardust was created by a team of five MHCI students: Brian Ellis, Will Haines, Yoko Nakano, Margaret Szeto, and Jing Tien. Our team consists of two computer scientists, two psychologists, and one designer. All share great passion for providing innovative user-centered technological solutions.
Brian Ellis - document lead
Brian Ellis graduated from Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a degree in computer science and a minor in philosophy. Having had an interest in human-computer interaction since he saw his first graphical user interface in 1986, he is especially interested in user interface design for end-user software on desktop operating systems—not precisely a rare process, but one he feels needs a lot of work. Brian is commonly considered to be pathologically obsessed with the Macintosh platform, and further shows his geeky tendencies in his spare time, when he can be found running tabletop role-playing games, quoting text in Quenya, and consuming copious amounts of Mountain Dew.
Will Haines - technical lead
Will Haines received his BS from Carnegie Mellon University, double majoring in computer science and human-computer interaction with a minor in music technology. A student of eclectic interests, he took to HCI as soon as he realized that the best computer scientists don't have to code all day, every day. When he's not pondering deeply about user motivations or treating his code comments as great prose, Will enjoys improvisation, hauling heavy sound equipment, and learning to play any instrument that he can find for free.
Yoko Nakano - user research lead
Yoko Nakano has a BS in psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology. During her undergraduate years, she spent time conducting experimental research on various subjects including auditory perception & interface, educational technology and ubiquitous computing. She's truly grateful to be in CMU's HCII Master's program where she's immersing herself in learning and applying the theories and applications of HCI. Having found a true calling, she is looking forward to becoming a part of inter-disciplinary team in creating innovative and throughly need-based user experience after graduation. Outside of school, she enjoys learning martial arts and taking photos.
Margaret Szeto - design lead
Margaret Szeto is currently an accelerated masters student in the HCI program, having received a BFA in Communication Design from Carnegie Mellon University. She has always been fascinated with cross-cultural differences, as was the case when she first visited Japan and encountered high-tech toilets that cultivated an interest in interaction design. In the past seven months, she has been occupied with the masters capstone project with the most peculiar yet endearing group of people she has ever worked with, finding the experience to be mind-filling, skill-honing, geek-enriching, and quite family-friendly. After graduating in December 2007, she hopes to one day work overseas to impact users through her work and interests in culture-centered design.
Jing Tien - project manager
Jing Jung Tien graduated from Rutgers College in 2006 with a B.A. in Psychology and Information Technology. Her interest in the social, cultural and philosophical aspects of technology led her to the Human Computer Interaction masters program at CMU. Her work as a research assistant in the Visual Cognition Lab at Rutgers, and as an intern in the Human Factors department of Lucent, helped her learn the business and research aspects of working on a project.
She believes technology should engage the user with unique interaction and creative design. Her inspiration comes from modern art to video games and scifi movies. She is interested in seamless integration of technologies and fascinated with virtual worlds. When she is not pursing her studies in HCI she enjoys knitting, watching anime and rock climbing.