The classroom should be a space where boundaries are pushed and the unexpected is celebrated. It’s not just about imparting knowledge, but about igniting curiosity, fostering experimentation, and encouraging students to challenge the status quo. The aim is not always to teach to a portfolio, especially in design, rather to assist students in finding their emergent voices and design identities while ensuring they can pursue innovation and critical thinking with confidence in a safe, nurturing environment.

To do this, I root my philosophy in the following principles:

Hands-on, Experiential Learning: Learning by doing is crucial. Students should be encouraged to tinker, build, break things, and iterate. The classroom should be a space for making, experimenting, and pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with technology and design.

Collaboration and Interdisciplinarity: Design doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Collaboration is essential. Students should be encouraged to work together, to share ideas, and to learn from each other. It’s about fostering a community of practice where diverse perspectives and skillsets are valued.

Real-World Application and Impact: The work created in the classroom shouldn’t just live within its walls. It should have real-world relevance and the potential to make a difference. Projects should address real-world challenges, engage with external communities, and explore the societal implications of design and technology.

Embrace the Unconventional: The most memorable and impactful learning experiences often come from the unexpected. Students should be encouraged to think outside the box, to embrace unconventional approaches, and to challenge traditional notions of what design can be.

Safe, Communicative Environment: The classroom should be a place where students are able to think, act, create in ways that speak to their unique processes of ideation, free of the fear that such unbridled productivity or risk (in design) leads to failure. Sometimes it does, and that’s the point. I hope to create a space that demonstrates that failure feels good and is useful.

My teaching experience demonstrates a commitment to these principles. I have taught a wide range of courses at institutions like the University of Maryland, Parsons School of Design, and New York University, and some of these courses hint at my pedagogical approach that moves beyond traditional, academic frameworks.

Wunderkammer: Cabinet of Curiosities is a course that challenges students to build their own interactive installations based off of the 16th century museum-precursors, coupling creativity with programming, electronics and sensors. This course culminated in an experiential open-house for participants school wide to engage in the student projects.

Transmedia Storytelling and Gaming sought to engage in storylines that span media. Some of the most considered, profound campaigns in modern marketing are omni-channel, so providing more of an experiential container for stories assist in student expansion of ideas of design and communication. This course produces a game-like, digital/analog scavenger hunt for UMD students to talk about and play.

Personal Science/Quantified Self is a course aimed at bringing data home to each and every student. We engage in data everyday. This thoughtful course asks students to track and know things about oneself, be it spending habits, athletic progress, or conditions that lead to a vice. Students create their own plan, often creating tools that allow them to track or note the variables that come into play with each project. Students are lead through tool making, visualization design, and practical curricula on the right questions to ask. The final presentation is almost always revelatory.

My portfolio also provides compelling evidence of my ability to bring this unconventional approach to life in the classroom. I’ve transformed airplane hangars into gothic, neon-themed dance parties with interactive, sound-activated visuals for MTV and Intel. I’ve developed a portable, projection-mapped pop-up book that brings to life the art and architecture of mosques around the world for the Children’s Museum of Manhattan. I’ve also developed and designed Maybelline’s first consumer app with groundbreaking design and bespoke, skin-detecting algorithms to bring makeup matching into everyone’s hands. These projects embody the spirit of experimentation, collaboration, and real-world impact that I bring to your teaching.

I endeavor to inspire students to think differently about design and its potential; empower them to create work that is both innovative and impactful; and challenge them to push their own boundaries and embrace the unexpected, all in an environment that is both uplifting and challenging.

My academic career thus far has been less about research than about teaching and curricular development. Having said that, there are topics that seem to be a long running thread in my academic and professional careers.

I have a keen interesting in investigating the design and development of interactive experiences, digital and analog, that leverage emerging technologies and interventions to enhance human communication and understanding.

My research agenda focuses on three key areas:

Non-Visual Immersive Storytelling: Exploring new forms of narrative and engagement that investigate the use of spatial audio, haptic feedback, and biometrics to enhance immersion and create a deeper connection between the audience and the story.

Novel Information and Data Visualization/Physicalization: Developing innovative tools and techniques for visualizing data and information in ways that are accessible, engaging, and insightful. This includes exploring the use of technology, fabrication and physical computation, gamified experiences and unconventional methods to empower users to understand and communicate insights and meaning from information.

Mediated Intimacy: Analyzing and creating experiences and/or technology that foster empathy, understanding, and connection between individuals and indiviuals or individuals and communities. This includes exploring social and communicative technologies/devices as well as lo-teknologies that simulate different perspectives, facilitate cross-cultural dialogue, and promote prosocial behavior.

The research methodology is grounded in a human-centered design approach, emphasizing iterative prototyping, user testing, and a deep understanding of the needs and motivations of the target audience. The work draws upon a diverse range of theoretical perspectives, including interaction design, human-computer interaction, cognitive psychology, and narrative theory.

I am deeply committed to engaging with external partners and communities to ensure that the research has a tangible impact on society. This commitment is reflected in a track record of successful collaborations with industry leaders, cultural institutions, and educational organizations, further supported by the projects and entities you’ll find throughout this site. Some of my prior accomplishments to help support this:

Commercial Innovation: Developed innovative and commercially successful products for major brands like Maybelline, Nickelodeon, and Unilever. Led the design and development of the “Makeup Express” app for Maybelline, which leveraged AR technology to bring the makeup counter experience to the drugstore aisle. This project involved developing proprietary image processing technology to help users find their perfect foundation shade.

Public Engagement and Societal Impact: Designed and implemented engaging public installations and experiences that explored themes of technology, art, and social interaction. Collaborated with world-renowned artists Ai Weiwei and Olafur Eliasson on MOON a web-based public art project that invited participants to contribute their thoughts and drawings to a virtual lunar surface. Created Pay2Play an interactive installation that explored the concept of micropayment monetization of the internet, raising awareness about issues of data privacy and the economics of the digital world.

Educational Outreach: Designed and delivered interactive workshops and educational programs for diverse audiences, including children, students, and professionals. Developed a hands-on, physical/digital experience for Nickelodeon’s Maker Faire exhibit, which allowed participants to create their own unique game characters and mechanics. Taught workshops on topics such as Unity and projection mapping, interfacing Unity with the physical world, and sensory experiences.

Thus, to be more explicit about what I have planned for the future, industry partnerships and community engagement are some of the core motivations undergirding my future research. I’ll seek out opportunities to collaborate with companies and organizations at the forefront of emerging technologies, such as VR/AR development studios, artificial intelligence labs, and data visualization companies, but inquire into more unconventional partnerships as well. What these will look like I do not know at this time. These collaborations would provide access to cutting-edge tools and technologies, as well as valuable insights into real-world applications and challenges, all in service to quality, education. I’ll also partner with community organizations, cultural institutions, and educational institutions to develop and implement interactive experiences that address core issues of our future both globally and locally. This could involve creating experiences that promote historical awareness, environmental innovation, designing games that encourage civic engagement, or developing tools that empower community members to understand and address local issues.