2017 Team

The People

team photo

Top row, from left to right: Catie Baker, Valerie Najera, Lydia Davison, Samantha Gil, Andy Davidson.

Bottom row, from left to right: Karin Vaughan, Leyla Ibrahim, Michael Fernandes.

	Catie Baker HCDE Research Assistant cmbaker@cs.washington.edu	Catie is a 5th year Ph.D. candidate in the Computer Science and Engineering department and is serving as the HCDE Outreach RA. Her research is on technology for people with disabilities and she has been very involved with various outreach efforts.
	Andrew Davidson HCDE Faculty adavid7@uw.edu hcde.uw.edu/davidson	Andy is a Senior Lecturer in HCDE and Director of the Undergraduate Program there. In addition to teaching courses in physical computing, prototyping, and user-centered design, he also heads up the HCDE K-12 outreach programs.
	Lydia Davison HCDE Student lydiad6@uw.edu	Lydia is a senior undergraduate student in the HCDE department, studying Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) with a minor in Education, Learning, and Society (ELS). She was a member of the Pipeline Project Neah Bay “Telling Our Stories” team last year and is looking forward to returning to Neah Bay for a second Spring Break trip. Lydia is also a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation and is interested in user experience design, indigenous communities, and education.
	Michael Fernandes HCDE Student mfern93@uw.edu	Michael is a senior in the HCDE department. Born and raised in Seattle, Michael has a passion for STEM and creating a more inclusive community around it. Michael has a passion for connecting people with the means to express and create their ideas through technology. In his free time you can find him rock climbing, cooking, and doing all things outdoors.
	Samantha Gil-Vargas HCDE Student samgil25@uw.edu	Sam is a junior in the HCDE department. She moved from Mexico to Yakima when she was 4 years old. Her goals are to raise awareness in the under-representation of certain STEM fields and give back to minority/under-represented communities. Some of her interests include running, hiking, finding new music/singing, and obsessing over all dogs, especially Corgis.
	Leyla Ibrahim HCDE Student leylai@uw.edu	Leyla is a graduating senior in the HCDE Bachelor of Science program. On the weekends, she spends her time tutoring and mentoring students at a community center called the Ethiopian Muslim Association of Seattle (EMAS). She dedicates her time exposing young girls of color to the STEM field through miscellaneous workshops. She hopes by using the human-centered design process, she will be able to continue assisting young under-represented youths to explore their potential in higher education.
	Valerie Najera HCDE Student vvnj@uw.edu	Val is a senior in the HCDE department. She was born in Mexico but has lived in Seattle since she was 10. She really enjoys working with under-represented communities to encourage students to continue studying in STEM fields. She is looking forward to meeting all of the students at Neah Bay and learning more about the community. During her free time she enjoys salsa dancing and riding her bike!
	Christine Stickler Pipeline Project Director castick@uw.edu expd.uw.edu/pipeline	Christine is Director of the Pipeline Project at the UW. Pipeline is a K-12 outreach program that connects undergraduate students from the University of Washington with educational and service opportunities in local and regional schools and community organizations through tutoring and mentoring.
	Karin Vaughan HCDE Student karvaugh@uw.edu	Karin is a senior in HCDE. She is from Palo Alto, CA, and lives in Seattle for school. Interaction design, usability testing, and visual design are her main areas of expertise in HCDE. Apart from homework, Karin spends her weekends volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, watercolor painting, and baking. She also works as a User Experience Intern on UW’s main websites.