2019 Attendees
2019 Workshop Attendees
Alkim Z. Avsar
PhD Student
Stevens Institute of Technology
aavsar@stevens.edu
Primary IDETC Conference: DTM
I am participating this conference because I want to learn more about the work other people are doing in this field, get feedback about my work and build a professional network. I also want to gain a broader perspective by learning about other researches in this area.
I am a PhD student in Systems Engineering. I completed my Masters in Engineering Management in Stevens Institute of Technology. I earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Mechatronics Engineering. My research interests include human behavior in engineering design, human decision-making process and complex engineering systems.
Amineh Zadbood
Ph.D. Candidate
Stevens Institute of Technology
azadbood@stevens.edu
Primary IDETC conference: DAC
This conference provides me with an incredibly invaluable experience to present my work and engage in conversations with the researchers in the design research community.
I am about to start the fourth year of my Ph.D. studies in Systems Engineering at the school of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology. My research focuses on exploring new ways to improve decision-based design and design for markets systems analysis with interdisciplinary systems modeling approaches to design more sustainable products and systems. I hold a master’s degree in Industrial Engineering with a concentration on socio-economic systems from Iran University of Science and Technology and a bachelor’s degree in Applied Mathematics from K.N.Toosi University of Technology in Iran.
Attakias Mertens
PhD Student
University of Nebraska at Omaha
amertens@unomaha.edu
Primary IDETC Conference: DTM
Attakias Mertens is interested in the cognitive mechanisms at work within the design process, particularly how memory can aid in designers’ decisions. Attakias focuses on differences between novice and expert designers, to help shape design education. DTM provides an opportunity to meet other researchers with similar interests.
Attakias Mertens is a PhD student in Neuroscience and Behavior at the University of Nebraska at Omaha working under Dr. Bruce Chase and Dr. Christine Toh. He received his M.A. in Neuroscience and Behavior in May of 2019 from the University of Nebraska at Omaha and his B.S. in Psychology in May of 2017 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Attakias’ current research focus includes the interactions between memory and decision-making processes in designers and individuals with Parkinson’s disease.
Charlotte de Vries, PhD
Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Pennsylvania State University Erie, the Behrend College
cud142@psu.edu
Primary IDETC conference: DAC
Charlotte is a participant in the BIOMED, DAC, and DEC conferences. She is passionate about design education and prototyping in design. Dr. de Vries’s research interests lie in design methodology, specifically medical design and design for human variability.
Dr. Charlotte de Vries is an Assistant Professor at Penn State Erie, the Behrend College. She graduated from Penn State University with her M.S. (2013) and Ph.D. (2014) in Mechanical Engineering. She received her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Massachusetts in 2009. In 2014 she started as a lecturer at Penn State Behrend, and has been on tenure track since Fall of 2015. In summer of 2017 she participated in the NASA Marshall Space Flight Center Fellowship with the Environmental Controls and Life Support Systems group.
Christine Toh
Assistant Professor
University of Nebraska at Omaha
School of Interdisciplinary Informatics
ctoh@unomaha.edu
Christine Toh is an Assistant Professor in IT Innovation in the School of Interdisciplinary Informatics at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She obtained her PhD in Industrial Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University in August 2016. Her research focuses on studying human decision-making and the antecedents of creativity in design, and developing an understanding of the larger context of innovation and entrepreneurship in engineering and technology settings. Christine has taught classes on IT Innovation, Interaction Design, and Product Dissection. Her research to date has spanned topics such as individual attributes and biases in team decision-making, information use in for-profit design streams, and user perceptions of trust with automated technologies.
Christine participates primarily in DTM and DEC- The study of creativity and methods that support creativity in the design process and education is the main focus of her research, and DTM and DEC provides an excellent outlet for this research interest along with the opportunity to meet other like-minded researchers.
Faez Ahmed
University of Maryland, College Park
faez00@umd.edu
Primary IDETC conference(s): DTM, DAC
My research is on machine learning methods for Design, which aligns with the conference scope.
Faez is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park. He will join MIT Mechanical Engineering as an Assistant Professor in 2020 after spending a year at Northwestern University. His interests are in developing Machine Learning and Optimization methods for design problems. Recently he has developed algorithms to enable distributed teams to participate in the design process. Prior to his Ph.D., he worked as a Reliability Engineer for Rio Tinto in Western Australia.
Hoda Mousavi
PhD Candidate
Virginia Tech
Hoda13@vt.edu
Primary IDETC conference(s): AVT
I am interested to learn more about other researcher’s work in my field and make connections with those working in my area of research interest.
I am a Ph.D candidate in Mechanical engineering. I am from Iran and received my master’s degree in Automotive Engineering. I have relevant knowledge in the area of vehicle and tire dynamics, terramechanics, mechanical systems design, finite element analysis, and flexible multi-body system dynamics. I am working with Dr. Corina Sandu at TMVS laboratory. My main research topic now at Virginia Tech is study on tire-terrain interaction that especially includes interaction of tires with ice and/or soil. My research covers studying different tire parameters such as material properties of rubber compounds, tire dimensions and tread patterns. This will be done using modeling and experimental approach. I have previous experience in tire modeling using ABAQUS and MATLAB.
José E. Lugo
Associate Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico - Mayaguez Campus
Jose.lugo2@upr.edu
Primary IDETC Conference: DEC, DTM
Because of my research interest in design methodology and design education. They provide a way to present and hear the latest topics on those disciplines.
Dr. José E. Lugo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. He completed his Ph.D. at the University of Notre Dame in the Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering Department. Previously he received his M.S. and B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. His research focus is Design Methods, in the area of product form and function. He is applying Gestalt Principles from Psychology to describe product form and predict subject judgment. Currently, he builds Virtual Environments to conduct subject product evaluations.
Nasreddine El Dehaibi
Doctoral Candidate
Stanford University
ndehaibi@stanford.edu
Primary IDETC Conference: DAC
To contribute knowledge, learn from others, and network.
I am a Mechanical Engineering Doctoral Candidate at Stanford University. My research focuses on sustainable product design with prior work at University of Michigan in solar energy. I'm currently working on extracting perceived sustainability features from online reviews to help designers grow demand for sustainable products.
Nicole Damen
PhD Student and Graduate Research Assistant
University of Nebraska Omaha
ndamen@unomaha.edu
Primary IDETC conference: CIE
After completing her double graduate degree in M.S. Management Information Systems (University of Nebraska Omaha, United States) and in M.A. Management, Communication and IT (Management Center Innsbruck, Austria), Nicole returned to UNO for a PhD in IT.
In order to better understand the ways in which technology can support and improve the quality of human life, her master thesis focused on the dynamics between human trust and technology with regards to home automation technologies.
Sita Syal
PhD Candidate
Stanford University
syalsm@stanford.edu
Primary IDETC Conference: DAC, DTM
I am excited learn from my colleagues in both the DAC and DTM communities and keep up with the latest research going on. I am also looking forward to presenting my work in agent-based modeling of wind farm development.
Sita is currently a PhD student in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. She completed her B.S.E. in Chemical Engineering and her M.Eng. in Energy Systems Engineering, both at the University of Michigan. After completing her degrees at Michigan, she worked in the oil and gas industry before coming back to pursue a PhD. She worked in the office as a process engineer and offshore in the Gulf of Mexico as an operations engineer. For her research, Sita is studying the human-driven costs of renewable energy technologies and how people make decisions about the design of their sustainable energy systems.
Sue Yi
University of Nebraska at Omaha
School of Interdisciplinary Informatics
sjyi@unomaha.edu
Primary IDETC conference(s): DTM
Sue Yi is pursuing a Master's Degree in IT Innovation at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She is currently working under Dr. Christine Toh where she researches design team understanding and the use of information in the design process. Her research interests include design theory, linguistics, and team cognition.
Ting Liao
Ph.D. Student
Stanford University
tingliao@stanford.edu
Primary IDETC conference(s): DTM
I participate in DTM because my primary research interests are investigating methods to facilitate early design phases of the sustainable products and methods to intervene human behavior while they interact with smart products.
Ting Liao is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Engineering at Stanford University. She earned her B.S. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 2014. Ting’s general research interests include sustainable design, design of emotions, and trust development of products.
Tobias Mahan
PhD Candidate
The Pennsylvania State University
tjm450@psu.edu
Primary IDETC conference(s): DTM
I participate in DTM due to my continued research into designer's use of rapid prototyping tools.
I am a PhD Candidate at Penn State's Mechanical Engineering Department. After receiving my M.S. in Biomedical Engineering at Michigan Technical University, I spent three months working with my start-up testing applications of Additive Manufacturing in East Africa. I currently research cybersecurity of cyber-physical manufacturing systems, and continue to perform scientific outreach in communities surrounding Penn State.
