I grew up in New Mexico, but left the land of green chile and perfect-weather ski slopes to pursue a BS in Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley. My undergraduate research spanned microrobotics design at Berkeley with Smart Dust Founder Kris Pister, optical MEMS design at Sandia National Labs in Albuquerque, and insect eye research in Sweden. I spent two years after graduation teaching 7th grade science in Oakland with Teach for America, where I became intrigued by the complexity of the social problems that affected my students. This experience prompted me to look to bigger picture solutions to the complicated problems that plague inner city teachers, and I started to learn about design's potential to prompt positive, socially responsible action through product solutions that incite change. This combination of interests inspired me to come to Stanford to pursue the impact design can make, both in and out of the classroom. After an exciting first year at Stanford, I interned at IDEO in Boston, where I worked on two projects: one designing an airline experience and another designing lab furniture and space. For my final year of graduate study and Masters thesis, I am working with a multi-disciplinary team to prototype the future of carpooling. I am interested in using my expertise in design-thinking and human-centric needfinding skills to understand the needs of commuters and make being a member of a carpooling community desirable enough to spur large-scale behavior change that gets cars off the road. I am also interested in the impact form and branding have on making products and services desirable to the consumer, as well as the way that they drive product creation. |
