The short version: I’m a product leader and strategist with a background in social robotics and IOT, behavioral design, and startups. After a decade in industry, I am currently pursuing my PhD in human-robot interaction at Yale University in order to dive deeper into the user experiences and technologies of the future. My return to academia is an opportunity to bridge my background in art, design, and hardware engineering with a new technical foundation in machine learning and artificial intelligence. My current research focuses on how we can utilize social robots to support individual mental health.

Fundamentally, I believe that smartphone screens are the UI of the past, and that the key to the future lies in more immersive, tangible, and human technologies. I’ve spent the latest phase of my career building these types of experiences, whether a social robot for health habits, a conversational AI for sleep, or an electric vehicle charger that comes to life. I seek to build a future where our devices help us become who we want to be, rather than pulling our energy and attention away from what it means to be human.

Prior to pursuing my PhD, I was the VP of Product at Volta Charging, responsible for millions in revenue from EV charging and media products based in connected hardware and machine learning. I was also the founder and CEO of MOTI, a minimal social robot to help user build daily health habits. Before venturing into the tech startup world, I spent a number of years in design education. I started my career helping to shape the Yale Center for Engineering, Innovation, and Design and then went on to teach Design Thinking at Northwestern University. I was additionally a Fellow for the organization Design for America, mentoring college students in human-centered design.

A few of the things I'm most proud of:

• Leading the design and development of an internationally award-winning EV charging station (and holding multiple patents for it).
• Founding MOTI, Inc. and being featured in Fast Company, Engadget, Tech Crunch, and more.
• Being selected as one of 16 designers from around the world to join the Google Creative Lab’s inaugural design founders program, 30 Weeks.
• Youngest to teach Design Thinking to university engineering students at Northwestern.
• Being the only female, designer, under 30 on a team of all-male engineers, teaching them how to think more innovatively at SC Johnson.
• Winning a Core77 Award with Design for America for the process guide I spearheaded.
• A collection of work that spans art, engineering, and design.