Design Interactive, Inc. - News

Meet the Team
Dr. Kay M. Stanney President Dr. Kay M. Stanney is a Professor and Trustee Chair with UCF’s Industrial Engineering & Management Systems Department, where she joined in 1992. In 2003 she was named one of the first University of Central Florida (UCF) Trustee Chairs, a position which she will hold from 2003-2008. Dr. Stanney’s research in the areas of multimodal interaction and virtual environments has been funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), Office of Naval Research (ONR), Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), and National Aeronautics and Space Administration, as well as other sources. She is currently conducting user-centered design research for ONR’s Virtual Technologies and Environments (VIRTE) Program and is lead on their usability engineering effort. She is also involved in research in support of DARPA’s Augmented Cognition Program, and in Spring 2005 received their Coggie Award, an award designed to recognize those individuals who have gone above and beyond the call of duty in service to this DARPA Program. In Summer 2005, she received the Foundations of Augmented Cognition Award. Dr. Stanney has over 200 scientific publications and has given several invited lectures and presentations. She is former Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Human-Computer Interaction (1999-2005), cofounder and co-chair with Michael Zyda of the 1st International Conference on Virtual Reality (2005), co-chair with Dylan Schmorrow of AugCog 2006 (to be held in conjunction with HFES 2006), and is also Editor of the Handbook of Virtual Environments: Design, Implementation, and Applications (Lawrence Erlbaum Associates). back to top
John P. Stanney CFO John has over 20 years of experience in the operational, organizational and financial management of companies ranging from publicly held manufacturing firms to small defense contracting consultancies. He has increased revenues and profitability at every firm he has led over the course of his career. John specializes in new market identification and product/service development to enter target markets. He has experience in raising capital, including private and public offerings. His current role provides DI with long range planning, opportunity identification, organizational planning and development, and project management including contract negotiation and compliance. He is an avid outdoorsman, fly fisherman, runner and weightlifter. John has three sons, and has been a youth baseball and basketball coach for the past 14 years. back to top
Kelly S. Hale Director, Human-Systems Integration Kelly has experience in human-computer interaction, training transfer, usability evaluation methods of advanced technologies, and cognitive processes within multimodal systems and virtual environments. Kelly has been involved with DARPA's AugCog program and ONR’s VIRTE program, and has been principal investigator on several SBIR efforts. Her research interests include operator screening, multimodal interaction design, haptic interfaces, human-computer interaction, usability evaluation methods of advanced technologies, and human cognitive processes within multimodal systems and virtual environments. Prior to joining Design Interactive, Inc., Kelly was the Virtual Environments and Usability Lab Coordinator at UCF. Kelly received her B.S. in Kinesiology from the University of Waterloo in 1999 and her M.S. in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems from the University of Central Florida in 2001. Currently, Kelly is an ONR-funded doctoral candidate in Industrial Engineering and Management Systems at the University of Central Florida. Her dissertation research in multimodal information perceptualization focuses on incorporating haptics interaction into complex virtual training environments with the goal of enhancing situation awareness. back to top
Dr. Laura Milham Director, Training Systems Laura has been involved with work in support of the human computer interaction aspects of building VE training systems for VELCAC and VEAAAV. In support of this, she has performed task analyses, assessed design and training needs for the VE systems; performed usability evaluations and user testing; and developed preliminary designs for VELCAC. She has also been responsible for the design of transfer of training experiments to investigate the utility of virtual helicopter (VEHELO), training design, training evaluation, team performance assessment, scenario development and developing guidelines for training tactical teams. Laura received her Ph.D. in the Applied Experimental and Human Factors Psychology program at the University of Central Florida. She holds a secret level clearance. back to top
Meredith A. Bell Senior Research Associate Meredith is currently supporting virtual training system design and evaluation for the office of Naval Research’s Virtual Technologies and Environments (VIRTE) Program. Her work focuses on HCI design of VE training systems, and design of training effectiveness evaluations and training transfer experiments. From 2003 to 2005 she worked as a Human Factors Engineer for the Boeing Company’s International Space Station (ISS) Checkout, Assembly, and Payload Processing Services (CAPPS) contract at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, FL. Her work there focused on user-centered design of ISS payloads, payload processing facilities and ground support equipment to optimize human performance through improvement of the human-machine interfaces. Her research efforts have been directed towards human/team performance and training in complex systems in aviation and military domains, with focuses on performance measurement and virtual training technology. She received her B.S in Aerospace Engineering from the University of Virginia in 2001, her MS in Aviation Science from Florida Institute of Technology in 2003 and is currently working toward her doctorate in Human Factors and Experimental Psychology at the University of Central Florida. back to top
Roberto Champney Senior Research Associate Roberto has had significant experience in systems design and evaluation having performed several system evaluations in industry and academia. His has worked on several multidisciplinary teams where he has developed an expertise in capturing the Voice Of the Customer (VOC) for transformation into design requirements and specifications. At DI he has worked supporting both the Training Systems and Human-Systems Integration departments. Most recently he has worked in developing methodologies for optimal training time; has co-developed methodologies for participant pre-training; and is leading the user-centered design approach of an interactive system for a corporate client. Prior to joining DI during the Fall of 2005, he has been a Graduate Research Associate at the University of Central Florida’s Virtual Reality Laboratory, where he has conducted several extensive analyses on human behavioral data, literary reviews, and experimental testing with human participants that lead to the co-development of manuscripts for publication. Roberto holds an M.S. in Human Engineering and Ergonomics, and is an ABD Ph.D. candidate at the University of Central Florida. His dissertation research interests are in Design and Emotion, primarily in the use and development of tools and methodologies for informing the design and evaluation of products with regards to affective criteria. In addition to his design and human-systems interests he has an interest in quality management and holds a Six Sigma Greenbelt certification. back to top
Sven Fuchs Senior Research Associate Sven works on multimodal design science to optimize operator situational awareness and workload in complex interactive systems and next generation mitigation strategies for Augmented Cognition systems. Within DI, Sven is known for his unconventional thinking and his passion for innovation. He brings 5 years of experience in the creative industries where he worked in marketing, multimedia production and advertising. Sven has an M.S. in Human-Computer Interaction from DePaul University, Chicago, where he conducted research on navigation strategies and cognitive models of Web navigation. Previously, he earned an interdisciplinary degree in Computer Science and Media from Flensburg University of Applied Science in Germany. back to top
Pär Axelsson Research Associate Pär joined Design Interactive in 2004, and his work is focused on operator situation awareness and workload in C4ISR environments using multimodal displays. He has a Master’s degree in the field of Industrial Engineering and Managements Systems and a certificate in Design for Usability from the University of Central Florida. He also has a Bachelor degree in Mechanical Engineering and Industrial Economics from Jönköping University in Sweden. His primary research focused on project management tools such as the Design Structure Matrix (DSM) and the Critical Path Method (CPM), but the later years were more focused on Usability and Human-Computer Interaction Design. back to top
Dervon Chang Research Associate Dervon has worked on military-focused projects and research in DI's Training Systems division. Past work includes evaluating operator-system interfaces, conducting usability testing, developing Human-System Integration (HSI) redesign recommendations, and building training effectiveness evaluation (TEE) approaches suited for military training programs. Dervon received her B.S. in Psychology at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign in 2003, where she is also earning a M.S. in Psychology from the Visual Cognition Human Performance (VCHP) department (based in the Institute of Aviation). Her past research experience has focused on multimodal, multiple resource related work with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (Dixon, Wickens, & Chang, 2005, Human Factors) and pilot-ATC communications, with extensive use of Frasca simulators and head-mounted eye trackers. back to top
Karen Delos Santos Research Associate Karen Delos Santos is a Research Associate with the Training Systems Division team. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in psychology and a Master’s degree in Modeling and Simulation focusing on Human Systems from the University of Central Florida. Currently, she is a third year student in the Modeling and Simulation Ph.D. program at UCF. Karen’s background includes over 3 years as a Communications Officer and Communications Training Officer at the Cocoa Police Department. Working under Drs. Peter Hancock and Jim Szalma in the MURI lab at UCF, she has conducted several studies on threat assessment and detection for law enforcement officers, and is very familiar with the emergency response and law enforcement domains. Her research interests include threat assessment and detection, vigilance as related to a police officer’s performance and simulator effects and effectiveness for training high stress events in an emergency setting. The field of law enforcement is Karen’s passion and it is her goal to bring Human Factors into the law enforcement domain. back to top
David L. Jones Research Associate David’s primary research focuses are on designing multimodal interactive systems and effective training systems. Past projects include usability evaluations for industry clients and government organizations as well as training effectiveness evaluations of virtual training environments. Other past research includes the experimental determination of various working memory capacities, and the resulting effects on dual task performance in multimodal environments. David has also been involved in projects focusing on the development of a guiding science to integrate Speech, Earcons, Auditory Icons, and Spatial Audio (SEAS) cues into multimodal interfaces and the effective integration of multimodal cues to provide effective feedback in training environments. He has an M.S. in Industrial Engineering from the University of Central Florida, with a concentration on human-computer interaction and usability, and a Bachelor’s degree in Human Factors Psychology from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, with a concentration on aviation human factors and computer science. He holds a secret security clearance. back to top
Angela Baskin Research Assistant Angela’s work has focused on using multimodal design science to optimize operator situational awareness and workload in C4ISR environments, evaluation of situation awareness in virtual environments, and the conceptual development of a training and operational systems design tool. Other research experience includes scenario-based vs. maneuver-based pilot training in glass cockpit aircraft, and simulator sickness among student pilots. Angela is earning a Master’s degree in Human Factors and Systems at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and has a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and Spanish from Flagler College. back to top