Lizzie // Raghav // Michael // Dan // Alicia
Team Zoltar is comprised of five masters students in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. Each member brings a unique perspective and skillset to the project, ranging from visual design to research and software development. In addition to diverse skills, the team also comes from diverse geographic locations, including India, New York, Singapore, Texas, and New Hampshire.
As the UX Research Lead, Alicia was able to combine her undergraduate studies in psychology and mathematics with a lifelong love of technology. Having lived in both Singapore and Washington, D.C. with a family hailing from China and Italy, she has always been fascinated by the diversity of individual people and their varying perspectives. In her spare time, Alicia enjoys cooking, traveling, playing tennis, and hiking.
Dan, the Visual Design Lead for Team Zoltar, is an Experience Designer with a generalist skillset. Previously, he contributed throughout the product development lifecycle as a user experience researcher, back-end developer, interaction designer, and web analyst. Dan has spoken about how to establish a culture of customer focus, how to grow UX talent within organizations, and the UX of health and wellness.
Lizzie served as Project Manager for Team Zoltar. Her prior experience includes user research, rapid prototyping, agile development, digital design, and responsive web design, as well as a passion for emerging tech. She graduated from Parsons School of Design with a BFA in Communication Design. In her spare time Lizzie enjoys attending UX meet ups, watching nature documentaries, and practicing pilates.
Michael, the Technical Lead for Team Zoltar, is interested in creating products and services at the intersection of divergent thinking, thoughtful design, and technology. He earned his Bachelor's in electrical engineering at the University of Texas. In his spare time, Michael enjoys running, traveling, and volunteering.
Raghav, the UX Design Lead for Team Zoltar, moved to Pittsburgh to pursue his dream of studying the intersection of art and tech. With a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science at IIIT-Delhi and the ongoing Master's in HCI, Raghav aims to be a UX generalist specializing in interaction design. When not designing, Raghav loves taking photos, exploring mountain ranges, and reading.
The Master's of Human-Computer Interaction program at Carnegie Mellon University is the longest established program of its type. It's a twelve month intensive program that focuses on user research methodologies, interaction design, and prototyping.