Team
Sahana Vijai, Dilara Semerci, Sangyun Han, Akshaya Venugopal, Regis Frey, Atulit Kumar
Akshaya Venugopal
Programmer
Akshaya is from Chennai, India, and has finished her Bachelors in Computer Science and Engineering from Anna University. She has always felt drawn to the interdisciplinary aspect of computer graphics, where the creative arts meet core computer science to create works which exhibit both technological prowess and artistic creativity. It has been a strong desire of hers to work in this field and she is very excited that her first steps towards achieving this goal are being taken at the ETC.
Atulit Kumar
Programmer
Atulit is a programmer specializing in computer graphics. In his first semester at the Entertainment Technology Center at Carnegie Mellon, he worked on creating highly interactive virtual worlds. This semester he is working on a project for MAKESHOP at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to design applications that help physical materials and digital design intersect. He’ll be programming the back-end of a new user interface that introduces kids to laser cutting technology. Before beginning his graduate studies here at Carnegie Mellon, Atulit studied Information Systems at BITS Pilani in India and graduated in 2012.
Dilara Semerci
Producer and Programmer
Dilara traveled from Turkey to CMU’s Entertainment Technology Center to create products that make people happy. She holds a degree in Computer Engineering and is also studying production. She is excited to work with MAKESHOP, in particular to see how the kids react and interact with the tools. She will be producing and co-programming for the Lazer Mouse project.
Sangyun Han
Industrial Designer
Sangyun Han has focused on developing interactive virtual reality worlds at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center in the last year. This year, he takes a project for MAKESHOP at the Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh to research how to blend the digital worlds with our physical world by making a new way of user interfaces of LASER cutting technology, especially for children. Before studying at Carnegie Mellon, he worked as a designer and engineer for six years. Sangyun Han received his Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design from Parsons the New School for Design in New York City. He also attended the Bachelor’s degree program in Electronics & Information Technology at Myongji University in South Korea, and the Bachelor’s degree program in Graphic Design & Advertising at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
Sahana Vijai
2D/3D artist
Sahana Vijai obtained her Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from BMS College of Engineering in India. While a capable programmer, Art was always her passion. In her second semester at the ETC she hopes to integrate her technical and artistic skills to help deliver a product that will successfully engage the kids at the Children’s Museum.
Regis Frey
User Experience Designer
Regis Frey is a Pittsburgh native with a varied background in art, writing, programming, and design. He’ll be leading product design on the project and is particularly excited about enabling kids to create the things in their minds.
Jessica Trybus
Project Advisor
Jess Trybus is Senior Special Faculty at CMU and has been on the ETC faculty since 2004. She is also an alumna of the program. Jess’s focus has been around sponsoring initiatives and advising projects that use interactive digital media for education within informal learning environments – primarily where children learn through play. Jess was also involved in spearheading the ETC’s involvement in MAKESHOP at Children’s Museum of Pittsburgh.