Academics
As my name might suggest, I was born and raised in the Netherlands. Before I moved to the US, I received a Bachelor's degree (B.Eng.) in Electrical Engineering from Avans University of Applied Sciences in Breda, and a Master's (M.Sc.) in Human-Technology Interaction from Eindhoven University of Technology. I have always had a passion for innovative technologies and in particular the way in which these can serve us, so I am thankful for the way these two programs have provided me with an understanding of the functioning of both technology and its users. My Master's Thesis was focused on the antecedents of system trust (before, during, and after use), and more specifically the system's competence level, and its 'values' (whether a user's personal beliefs were reflected in the system's functionality). Click here to download my thesis paper.
My first placement at Northeastern University (NEU) resulted from a degree requirement in my Master's program, for which I had to spend one semester abroad either taking classes or conducting research. I decided to focus my search for interesting programs or labs around Boston, since I already had a particular interest in the city as an educational capital. I soon came across the Intelligent Human-Machine Systems Lab at NEU, which is supervised by Dr. Yingzi Lin. She was very helpful and interested in my personal and educational background, so she offered me a position in her lab as a visiting scholar for the spring semester of 2009. During my time at the lab, I quickly found out that the lab welcomes students from a wide range of domains and fields of expertise, so it provided a wonderful source for inspiration and productivity. The time I spent here proved invaluable for both my personal and academic development, so when Dr. Lin asked me to consider returning to her lab as a Ph.D. student, it did not take me long to make up my mind.
My first placement at Northeastern University (NEU) resulted from a degree requirement in my Master's program, for which I had to spend one semester abroad either taking classes or conducting research. I decided to focus my search for interesting programs or labs around Boston, since I already had a particular interest in the city as an educational capital. I soon came across the Intelligent Human-Machine Systems Lab at NEU, which is supervised by Dr. Yingzi Lin. She was very helpful and interested in my personal and educational background, so she offered me a position in her lab as a visiting scholar for the spring semester of 2009. During my time at the lab, I quickly found out that the lab welcomes students from a wide range of domains and fields of expertise, so it provided a wonderful source for inspiration and productivity. The time I spent here proved invaluable for both my personal and academic development, so when Dr. Lin asked me to consider returning to her lab as a Ph.D. student, it did not take me long to make up my mind.
Dissertation Work
In the spring semester of 2010 I began my Ph.D. Program in Industrial Engineering at Northeastern University, where I would continue to carry out the majority of my work at same lab. I decided to focus my dissertation on Human-Computer Interface design, through which I aimed to help those with accessibility issues that can result from various physical disabilities. More specifically, I developed a method to quantify and compare computer experiences between individuals, as well as an alternative interface design that would replace the conventional and sometimes challenging keyboard-mouse interface that can cause these users to be left out. This is provided a very exciting research topic because it allowed me to help potential users while experimenting with a wide range of innovative technologies.
Outreach
Reaching out to the community was always an essential part of my project. On the remainder of this page I have listed a selection of events that I attended as part of this research. These events provided me with excellent opportunities to get in touch with patients and health care professionals, enabling me to share my work and thoughts while learning about the issues from another perspective.
2011 Research and Scholarship Expo - Northeastern University
System Demonstration at the 2011 Research Expo - Photo by Mary Knox Merrill
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I first demonstrated my work at the 2011 Northeastern University Research & Scholarship Expo, which is always a great opportunity for students to showcase their work and communicate with peers, professors, and other professionals. Following this demonstration, my work was covered by journalist Mark Baard in his 'User Friendly' technology column for the Boston Globe:
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2011 Products and Technologies that Change People's Lives - Conference
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In September 2011, I visited the Products & Technologies that Change People's Lives conference (hyperlink), which took place at the Hynes Convention Center here in Boston. Part of this conference was the Design Competition, which was an opportunity for students and recent graduates to communicate their ideas on Assistive Technologies, and how they would envision applying them to improve people's lives. Since my project is aimed at exactly that, I decided to join the competition, mainly to share my vision and receive valuable feedback. I was among the five finalists invited to join the expo to showcase their work, and I ended up with an Honorable Mention (4th place). This was a great honor, indeed, considering the fact that my project was still in its beginning stages.
The day itself was a wonderful experience. I got to interact with developers and users, some of whose stories were truly inspiring. It was good to see that the field of Assistive Technologies is gaining more attention, and it made me realize just how lucky I am for being able to work on such an interesting and meaningful project. I hope one day to see my work translated into a real life (changing) application. |
Honorable Mention received at the Design Competition
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RISE:2012 - Northeastern University
Me (on the right) being congratulated by President Joseph E. Aoun (center) and Provost Stephen Director (left) after earning the RISE:2012 'Excellence in Research' Special Award - Photo by Dominick Reuter
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On March 29th of 2012, I entered again at Northeastern University's Research Innovation and Scholarship Expo (RISE:2012). This year, I presented my work through a poster (open here) and an oral presentation. Just like last year, I also brought the system with me for a demonstration, which was another success. To my great honor I also received two beautiful awards:
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Empower: The Campaign for Northeastern University
After receiving two awards at the 2012 Research Expo, my work was featured in Northeastern University's Empower Campaign, aimed at raising $1 Billion in funds by 2017. The image below shows the Empower campaign cover, followed by the page featuring my research (with caption enlarged).
Title Page Caption:
$1 Billion by 2017; $500 million in philanthropic support; $500 million from industry and government partnerships
Empower: The Campaign for Northeastern University; aspires to an unprecedented goal in support of students, faculty, and research innovation. We seek to strengthen creative partnerships with industry and government leaders, and - most important - the generous and committed university community.
$1 Billion by 2017; $500 million in philanthropic support; $500 million from industry and government partnerships
Empower: The Campaign for Northeastern University; aspires to an unprecedented goal in support of students, faculty, and research innovation. We seek to strengthen creative partnerships with industry and government leaders, and - most important - the generous and committed university community.
2012 Arthritis Walk - Boston, MA.
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On Sunday September 16th, 2012, I set out to join the Boston edition of the Arthritis Walk. I had been working on my Computer Accessibility Survey for a long time, and this event presented an excellent opportunity to get in contact with potential subjects for this survey and future system testing trials.
The event coordinator was very helpful and put me in contact with some wonderful volunteers from the Arthritis Foundation. After sharing the purpose of my thesis research with them, they showed great appreciation for the work I am doing, and enthusiastically helped me in the participant recruitment. Special thanks go out to Rebecca Farnlof and Sue Nesci who have continued to put me in touch with other people within the Arthritis Foundation. I consider myself fortunate to have been a part of this wonderful event with an impressive turnout of about 1000 walkers! Furthermore, I got to meet many interesting people, and I made some very useful connections for my future work.
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I distributed my Computer Accessibility Survey at the 2012 Arhtritis Walk in Boston.
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RISE:2013 - Northeastern University
My Poster at RISE:2013
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The 2013 edition of Northeastern University's Research Innovation and Scholarship Expo (RISE:2013) took place on March 22th. Once again, I entered as a presenter to showcase my work through a poster (open larger image here). Compared to last year I have improved and expanded my work on the following grounds:
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2013 Better Living with Arthritis Expo - Boston, MA.
On March 23rd 2013, I attended the Better Living with Arthritis Expo (hyperlink) which was held at Boston College High School. This event provided another great opportunity to get in touch with patients and professionals in the arthritis community. I also distributed my Computer Accessibility Survey at the event, in hopes of collecting more valuable data for my research. I brought the same poster with me I used at Northeastern's Expo the day before, and I showed a demonstration video of my project.
At the event in came in contact with Denice Garrett who works with Actions for Boston Community Development, and she arranged for me to attend an Arthritis and Lupus Support Group meeting, which took place at New England Baptist Hospital. During this meeting I gave a brief presentation and got to interact with a select group of individuals to learn more about their background and how their physical condition affects their personal experiences.
At the event in came in contact with Denice Garrett who works with Actions for Boston Community Development, and she arranged for me to attend an Arthritis and Lupus Support Group meeting, which took place at New England Baptist Hospital. During this meeting I gave a brief presentation and got to interact with a select group of individuals to learn more about their background and how their physical condition affects their personal experiences.
2013 Arthritis Walk - Boston, MA.
On September 15th, 2013, I revisited the Boston Arthritis Walk (hyperlink). Last year's event had provided me with some great memories and valuable learning experience, so this time around I was ready to seize the opportunity of completing one final run of data collection for my Computer Accessibility Survey. Thanks to the hospitality from the volunteers at the Arthritis Foundation and the help of two of my own volunteers (Holly Moore and Nicolas Dahlberg), I managed to collect over 50 surveys. This means that I now had enough data to round up this portion of my research. Over the following months I would continue to work on analyzing the data and conducting more system usability studies.
