This year, we have three new PhD students joining us in the STAR group! Welcome, LouAnne, Erick, and Mark!
LouAnne Boyd, BCBA, has 24 years experience in the field of Applied Behavior Analysis and is dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). She is the originator of The Social Compass Curriculum, A Story-Based Intervention Package for Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders, and has coauthored papers with Dr. Gillian Hayes related to assistive technologies for ASD. LouAnne has joined the STAR team as a PhD student at UC Irvine Informatics to focus on research in human computer interaction. She is currently researching the impact of technology on the support social development in children with ASD. Other research interests are ubiquitous computing, persuasive computing, social network analysis, and computer supported collaboration.
Van Erick Custodio received his B.S. in Informatics with a specialization in human computer interaction from the UC Irvine. As an undergraduate, Van explored the effects of video modeling with students that have Autism under the guidance of Dr. Gillian Hayes. In this project he worked with a team of undergraduates to design and develop a mobile application that uses video modeling to teach job interview skills. He also helped organize campuswide programming competitions for the development of mobile apps for Autism. Van plans to investigate diversity in CS education while pursuing his Ph.D. in Informatics from UCI. His research interests include informal learning, civic engagement, hackathons, human-computer interaction, and social analysis of computerization.
Mark Baldwin is a PhD student with research interests in the fields of human computer interaction and assistive technology. He is currently interested in using his professional experience as a programmer and user experience designer to explore novel ways to advance nonvisual access to digital content. Mark earned his Master’s in Human-computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University and his Bachelor’s in Computer Science from DePaul University. When not at his computer, Mark can often be found riding his bike, playing softball or roasting up a fresh batch of coffee.