speakers

Xin Xin (they/them) is a Taiwanese-American cultural producer exploring community-driven technology in creative and educational spaces. As creator of TogetherNet and co-editor of the Critical Coding Cookbook, Xin advocates for liberatory software culture through the reclamation and subversion of power dynamics embedded within digital systems. Born in Taipei and raised in Massachusetts, Xin brings a multicultural perspective to questions of technology and sovereignty. An Eyebeam Rapid Response for a Better Digital Future Fellow and Sundance Art of Practice Fellow, their genre-bending practice weaves together art, education, organizing, and technological experimentation—interrogating who controls technology, who benefits from it, and the power of collectives in building a more equitable digital future.

Dr. Eileen McGivney is an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University's College of Arts, Media, and Design. As Principal Investigator at the XR Education Design Lab, she conducts research on how VR and other immersive technologies can bring transformative learning experiences into the classroom. Using design-based research methods, her current work includes AI-powered simulations for health sciences students to practice patient communication skills, the design of VR field trips for high school STEM classrooms, and the study of problem-solving in VR escape rooms. Prior to Northeastern, Dr. McGivney earned her PhD at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and conducted research on education policy at the Brookings Institution.

Paolo Ciuccarelli is Full Professor of (Information) Design at Northeastern University and Founding Director of the Center for Design. His research investigates how visualization, sonification, and data experience design make complex social, urban, and organizational phenomena legible and actionable. He co-founded the DensityDesign Research Lab at Politecnico di Milano, co-edits Big Data & Society, and is a Senior Affiliate at metaLAB Harvard. His work bridges design research, digital humanities, and emerging technologies (including AI).

Steven Geofrey (they/them) is an Associate Teaching Professor and Coordinator of Creative Coding in Art + Design. At Northeastern, they are Program Coordinator for the Information Design and Data Visualization (IDDV) graduate program and coordinate the Coding Clinic, a student-run support service for coding. As a research-practitioner in data, design, and computation, Steven’s practice uses Value-Sensitive Design as framework, code as material, and design as method to investigate representation, interpretation, and meaning. Steven is also Senior Researcher/Design Lead with Partnering Lab and was previously a Senior Research Scientist with Project Information Literacy. They maintain a freelance practice in digital humanities.

Pedro M. Cruz explores nature-inspired metaphors to portray data and information through design. He is an Associate Professor in the Art + Design Department at Northeastern University, teaching Information Design and Data Visualization. Cruz co-directs the Co-Lab for Data Impact and is a core faculty member of the Center for Design. His work has been featured in prestigious venues such as the London Design Biennale, MoMA, CES, the Museum of the City of New York, the Ibero-American Biennale of Design, SIGGRAPH, the IEEE VIS Arts Program, the ALIFE Conference on Artificial Life, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, FACTT Festival of Art & Science, the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, and in the Information is Beautiful Awards.

Tiange Wang is an award-winning and internationally-exhibiting designer and creative technologist. Her work investigates innovative interactive paradigms among humans, technology and the environment. Tackling subjects like intelligent systems, multisensory experiences, holistic wellbeing, and climate futures, she employs mediums including multimodal interaction, creative data visualization, multimedia art, software, food, physical AI, and games. As a Senior Design Lead at IDEO, she leads the design and prototyping of human-centered, planet-conscious, data-informed, and emerging-tech enabled products for Fortune 500 clients and high-growth ventures, taking ideas from 0 to 1 and transforming them into market-ready products across the digital and physical realms.

A director and cinematographer, Jonny Ouk focuses on creating immersive experiences that enrich his storytelling. Using Unreal Engine for indie virtual production, photogrammetry for photo realistic characters and spaces, spatial video and motion capture, his development of novel workflows highlights the transformative use of emerging tools. Balancing technical acumen with creative vision, he’s committed to creating innovative media experiences that educate, inspire, and tell meaningful impactful human stories.

Katia Zolotovsky is an Assistant Professor in Art + Design with a joint appointment in the College of Science, Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. She is directing the BioInteractive Design lab. Katia is an architect, biologist, and bio-design researcher. She holds a Ph.D. in Computation from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where her dissertation focused on design and computation with biologically active materials. Katia's research focuses on the impact of biotechnology on everyday life and the ecosystems we live in, as well as the implications of this emerging technology. In her research, she collaborates with material scientists, synthetic biologists, and computational designers to develop practical ways for artists and designers to engage with biological materials and systems.

Y. Jenny Wang, Ph.D. is the Director of medVR, where she leads program development for the Medical XR Accelerator and guides teams in building commercially-viable solutions to real-world medical challenges. She also serves as the Hardware Track Director of MIT Reality Hack. A multidisciplinary builder and strategist, her background spans business development, education, and product design. She has developed go-to-market strategies, led VR and electronics workshops, and founded two companies, including Clever Rock Labs, which builds products blending software, hardware, and human interaction.

Steven Max Patterson is the Executive Director of medVR, a non-profit providing catalytic education in medical XR. With a background in engineering, project management, and technology journalism, Steven has written for Ars Technica, Quartz, Fast Company, and IDG. He has built open source and mobile tech communities for over two decades and has worked to expand AR/VR into new fields since 2014. He founded and led the AR/VR hackathon at the MIT Media Lab in 2015.