Higher Education Web Symposium
A conference focused on the unique challenges of web design and development in academia
July 15-16, 2008
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA
Home > Speaker Bios
- Jared M. Spool, Founding Principal, User Interface Engineering
- Eric Meyer, Principal, Complex Spiral Consulting
- Stephanie Sullivan, Founder and principal, W3Conversions
- Steve Mulder, Director of Emerging Interactions, Molecular
- Riccardo La Rosa, Molecular
- Dana Chisnell, UsabilityWorks
- Luke Wroblewski, Principal Designer, Yahoo! Inc.
- Patrick Haney, User Interface Designer, Harvard University
- Raymond Bokenkamp, Senior Software Architect, University of Pennsylvania
- Jason Lehman, IT Director, University of Pennsylvania
- Erin Wyher, Senior Programmer Analyst, University of Pennsylvania
- Rebecca Sweger, Senior Programmer Analyst, University of Pennsylvania
- Jennifer Yuan, IT Communications Analyst, University of Pennsylvania
- Chris Hyzer, Senior Programmer Analyst, University of Pennsylvania
- Darian Patrick, Senior Programmer Analyst, University of Pennsylvania
- Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg, Drupal Developer
- Jody Hamilton, Drupal Developer
Jared M. Spool, Founding Principal
User Interface Engineering
If you’ve ever seen Jared speak about usability, you know that he’s probably the most effective, knowledgeable communicator on the subject today. What you probably don’t know is that he has guided the research agenda and built User Interface Engineering into the largest research organization of its kind in the world. He’s been working in the field of usability and design since 1978, before the term “usability” was ever associated with computers.
Jared spends his time working with the research teams at the company, helps clients understand how to solve their design problems, explains to reporters and industry analysts what the current state of design is all about, and is a top-rated speaker at more than 20 conferences every year. He is also the conference chair and keynote speaker at the annual User Interface Conference, is on the faculty of the Tufts University Gordon Institute, and manages to squeeze in a fair amount of writing time.
Eric Meyer, Principal
Complex Spiral Consulting
Eric Meyer is an internationally recognized expert in CSS and the use of web standards, and has been working on the web since 1993. In that time, he has written a wide variety of tutorials, articles, and books devoted to helping designers and developers improve their web skills. He is the best-selling CSS author and best-recognized CSS authority in the world. His seven books have been translated into six languages and have sold in the hundreds of thousands.
Eric is the principal of Complex Spiral Consulting, which focuses on helping clients use standards to cut costs and improve user experience. In that capacity, he has assisted organizations from universities to government laboratories to Fortune 500 companies; some recent and notable clients include America On-Line, Apple Computer, Macromedia, Sandia National Laboratory, and Wells Fargo Bank.
Stephanie Sullivan, Founder and principal
W3Conversions
Founder and principal of web standards redesign company W3Conversions, Stephanie Sullivan is a CSS, accessibility, and XHTML expert, whose services are in demand by leading firms across the United States. She’s a top gun that companies go to for troubleshooting problems, training their web team, or to work behind-the-scenes transforming their in-house designs into functioning, standards-based websites. She has worked with clients such as New York Magazine, Adobe, University of California Fresno, Kumquat among others; her attention to detail always receives the highest praise.
Stephanie wrote the CSS Layouts included in Dreamweaver CS3, co-authored Mastering CSS with Dreamweaver CS3 (New Riders), serves as co-lead of the influential Web Standards Project (WaSP) Adobe Task Force and is a partner at Community MX, a site offering over 2,300 tutorials to web developers seeking to increase their skills. Though an admitted workaholic, she escapes as often as possible from the little people inside her computer to play beach volleyball. Her guilty pleasure? 80’s music.
Steve Mulder & Riccardo La Rosa
Molecular
Steve Mulder (L) and Riccardo La Rosa (R) lead the Emerging Interactions practice at Molecular, an interactive agency with offices in Boston, New York, and San Francisco. They work with companies such adidas, HumanaOne, TripAdvisor, and Reebok to answer the core question: How do our interactions with customers change in the world of social media, social networking, rich interfaces, openness, and new digital interfaces? Riccardo’s roots are in software engineering; he has over a decade of experience in architecting, designing, and building innovative solutions on the Web. Steve’s expertise covers user research, information architecture, interaction design, and usability, and he is the author of The User Is Always Right: A Practical Guide to Creating and Using Personas for the Web.
For more information on Steve, visit http://www.muldermedia.com
Dana Chisnell, UsabilityWorks
Dana Chisnell is an independent user researcher and usability consultant operating UsabilityWorks in San Francisco, CA. She has been doing usability, user interface design, and technical communications consulting and development since 1982.
- Handbook of Usability Testing: How to Plan, Design, and Conduct Effective Tests
- NetObjects Fusion: Effective Web Design in 3 Days
- FutureTense Texture: Effective Web Design in 3 Days
Luke Wroblewski, Principal Designer
Yahoo! Inc.
Luke Wroblewski is an experienced interface designer, strategist, and author. He is currently a Principal Designer at Yahoo! Inc. and Principal of LukeW Interface Designs, a digital product design consultancy he founded in 1996. Luke has recently finished his new book Web Form Design Best Practices, an in-depth look at designing effective and engaging Web forms that optimize key customer interactions. Luke has also authored a groundbreaking book on Web interface design principles, Site-Seeing: A Visual Approach to Web Usability, as well as numerous articles featured in his own online publication, Functioning Form. Luke is a member of the board of directors of the Interaction Design Association and a frequent presenter on topics related to Web Design.
Previously, Luke was the Lead User Interface Designer of eBay Inc.’s platform team. At eBay, he led the strategic design of new consumer products and internal processes including design pattern and creative asset management systems. Luke also taught interface design courses in the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois and worked as a Senior Interface Designer at the National Center for Supercomputing Applications (NCSA), birthplace of the first popular graphical Web browser, NCSA Mosaic.
Patrick Haney, User Interface Designer
Harvard University
Patrick Haney is a User Interface Designer at Harvard University in the iCommons group. He graduated in 2001 with a BS in Information Technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology, specializing in multimedia and, you guessed it, web design.
In the past Patrick also worked for some well known companies such as Eastman Kodak, Xerox and the now defunct NetSetGo. During college he was lucky enough to be the webmaster of the Computer Science House and also Student Government at RIT.
Raymond Bokenkamp, Senior Software Architect
Med School, University of Pennsylvania
Raymond Bokenkamp is a Senior Software Architect at the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Medicine. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Computer Science from the University of Twente in the Netherlands. For the past 10 years, Raymond has developed Frameworks that aid the team-oriented development process both in academic and non-academic settings. These frameworks include MVC-like front-end engines as well as organization wide API frameworks for object-relational data retrieval. The API framework integrates with standards for identity management, authentication and authorization.
In the past few years, Raymond’s interest has focused on effective web interface design. He feels that a great opportunity exists in bridging the gap between user experience and web interface design. Ultimately, Raymond hopes his analytical mind and strong drive can contribute in the area of effective user interface design as well as the presentation of quantitative data. In his spare time, Raymond loves to run marathons and hike on the Wissahickon trail in Philadelphia with his wife, Lisa, and dog Jax.
Jason Lehman, IT Director
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Jason Lehman is an IT Director at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. Within Wharton Computing and Information Technology Jason manages a team of developers focusing on building web and rich internet applications that enhance the student experience and streamline administrative and instructional processes. In his current role Jason interacts daily with students, faculty, and staff across Wharton in support of technological initiatives and innovation. Prior to becoming an IT Director Jason was a Sr. Programmer Analyst working on applications such as SPIKE (Wharton’s student intranet) and the Course Auction (Wharton’s MBA elective registration system) which won Adobe MAX Awards in 2004 and 2006 for Educational Experience and Industry Innovation. Jason’s passions in application development (and really most areas of life) are functional design and innovation.
Jason holds a Bachelors degree in Mathematics from Drexel University. He currently lives in Ambler with his wife, two kids, and two dogs and loves home remodeling.
Erin Wyher, Senior Programmer Analyst
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Erin Wyher is a Senior Programmer Analyst for the Alfred West Jr. Learning Lab at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. At the Wharton Learning Lab, she pioneered Flex development within the team with a Flex 1.0 drag-and-drop application that is still used in classes today. Since late 2003, she has built and worked on Learning Lab web simulations written in ColdFusion, Flex and Flash all with a SQL Server backend. Before working at Wharton, she worked at a mutual fund software company developing internal web applications in ASP.NET. Although she enjoys working in the city of Philadelphia, she recently bought her first home in a quaint town just outside of the city. Erin graduated with her undergraduate degree in computer science from Philadelphia University.
Rebecca Sweger, Senior Programmer Analyst
Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Rebecca Sweger is a Senior Programmer Analyst for the Alfred West Jr. Learning Lab at the Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania. At the Wharton Learning Lab, she works extensively with peers and faculty to create web and rich internet applications for use in the classroom. Her current interests and challenges include designing usable interfaces on tight schedules and finding creative ways for using technology as a learning tool.
Rebecca has a Bachelors degree from James Madison University and a Masters degree in Information Systems from Drexel University. Prior to working at the University of Pennsylvania, she started her career old-school style as a COBOL/IMS programmer before moving on to pioneer the use of Business Intelligence and Data Warehousing at a local hospital. She lives in Fishtown, Philadelphia with her husband and enjoys Utah, rollerblading, and expensive cheese.
Jennifer Yuan, IT Communications Analyst
ISC, University of Pennsylvania
Jennifer Yuan is an IT Communications Analyst for the Information Systems and Computing (ISC) office of the University of Pennsylvania. She brings an academic background in experimental and cognitive psychology, as well as extensive professional experience in visual and print design, into the process of creating usable websites and web application interfaces for ISC clients across the University.
Chris Hyzer, Senior Programmer Analyst
ISC, University of Pennsylvania
Chris Hyzer is a software developer and architect at Penn's central IT department, Information Systems and Computing. He holds Bachelors and Masters degrees in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from Penn. He has ten years experience developing software, and for the past five years he has developed a large-scale web framework for Penn's administrative systems that powers several dozen applications. He has taught a couple dozen community college computer courses, has earned a couple dozen technical certifications, and is an active contributor to Internet2 open-source software.
Darian Patrick, Senior Programmer Analyst
ISC, University of Pennsylvania
Darian Anthony Patrick is a web application development and security specialist who focuses on development process improvement to increase software quality. Darian has a broad range of expertise in both application development and information technology and prior to joining the University of Pennsylvania he spent nearly a decade building e-commerce, information security, supply chain and content management, and marketing communications applications in the private sector. Darian
volunteers as co-leader of the Philadelphia chapter of the Open Web Application Security Project. He was played by Bill Bixby in the “Love and the Legal Agreement” segment of 70’s sitcom “Love, American Style.”
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg, Drupal Developer
Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg has been working in technology since 1999, and with Drupal since he hooked up with Music for America, a voter education and registration initiative, during the U.S. 2004 presidential campaign. He has helped to create numerous blogs and online communities including Young Philly Politics, a local political blog, Blue Force, a progressive national security site, and Future Majority, which looks at the intersections of youth, culture, and politics. Alex worked at The New School for Social Research in New York City for eight years, where he also received his Bachelors and Masters degrees, both of which focused on psychology, politics, and communications. After he left the New School, Alex worked various jobs in politics and communications, including doing Online Marketing/Internet Outreach for the award winning film The War Tapes, working as the Youth and Cultural Field Organizer for Philadelphians Against Santorum, and managing a City Council race in Philadelphia. In early 2007 Alex decided to pursue Drupal Development full time, and he hasn't looked back since. He lives in Philadelphia with his wife, dog, cats, and a salt-water reef tank that scares his wife half to death every time he's away on business (which is fairly frequently).
Drupal evangelists Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg and Jody Hamilton of Zivtech, LLC will be conducting the HOWTO: Drupal Demonstration.
Jody Hamilton, Drupal Developer
Jody Hamilton has been a Drupal developer since 2006. After careers as an analytical chemist and a high school math teacher, she was apprenticed by Philadelphia web design legend Mason Wendell of Canary Promo + Design who first pointed her in the direction of Drupal. While her main interests are writing clean code and problem-solving custom Drupal functionalities, she has strong skills with CSS / theming as well. Prior to partnering with Zivtech as Lead Developer Jody worked freelance as a Drupal developer and consultant, focusing on creating custom functionalities for the sites of other Drupal developers and site-builders. Jody lives outside Philadelphia in South Jersey with her cats, where she enjoys kayaking and song-writing when she ever stops obsessively learning more about Drupal. She graduated from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, CA in 2000. See also jodyhamilton.net and Lynn on Drupal.org
Drupal evangelists Alex Urevick-Ackelsberg and Jody Hamilton of Zivtech, LLC will be conducting the HOWTO: Drupal Demonstration.
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