I'm a PhD student in the Computer Science Department at Carnegie Mellon University. I'm interested on differentiating traditional oracles from humans in active learning applications. People are not always interruptable, are not always correct, and are not willing to answer an infinite number of questions. However, we must balance the performance of the application with the usability of the system. I study how depending on people for learning affects the performance of and user satisfaction with the technology. I am taking both Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Learning/AI approaches to investigate how the each affects the other. In HCI, my research involves how interruptibility, intelligibility, and the language of questions affect user responsiveness. In AI, my approach is to investigate how to ask questions and incorporate responses asynchronously. My advisors are Manuela Veloso and Anind Dey.

I'm actively involved in Women@SCS. We present to middle and high schools roadshows about computer science concepts (its not just programming) and cool applications like computer graphics and games and robotics. I also volunteer for Creative Technology Nights. We offer free workshops for middle school girls on various topics in computer science like Alice programming, robotics, circuits and hardware, puzzles, and anything else we can think of. Don't miss SCS Day (a celebration of diversity) every February at Carnegie Mellon, where we show off all of our non-computer talents!

I received my Bachelors degree in Computer Science with a double major in Human-Computer Interaction in 2007 also from Carnegie Mellon. I am a 2007 NSF Graduate Fellow, National Physical Science Consortium Fellow, Google Anita Borg Scholarship winner, CRA Outstanding Undergraduate Award winner, and Andrew Carnegie Society Scholar. I am also a 2006 Microsoft National Undergraduate Female Award winner.