I am a Ph.D. student in Electrical Engineering & Computer Science at Northwestern University. I am interested in the design and development of tangible educational media through the combination of the Montessori pedagogy and embedded technologies.

Advised by Dr. Michael Horn, I am currently developing tools to help children better understand the concepts of health and medicine. Previously I have worked on creating materials for algebra, conservation, and evolution education. In all cases we work with children to learn about their needs and understandings, and evaluate and redesign interfaces based on their feedback and suggestions. Using these tools we can further research how the addition of technology into manipulative materials impacts children’s’ learning.

Advised by Dr. Kay Baker, I graduated with my Masters in Montessori Education and Elementary Teaching Certification from Loyola College in Maryland and the Washington Montessori Institute in 2007. In 2004, I received my Bachelors degree in Computer Science from Georgia Institute of Technology. During my undergraduate career, I specialized in artificial intelligence and participated in research with the Electronic Learning Community under the advisement of Dr. Amy Bruckman.

I’ve also worked in industry for several years prior to pursuing a Ph.D. This includes development of applications for a home health software agency in Atlanta and various applications for two separate government agencies in Washington D.C.