Our Team
We're a small graduate team that worked together for our capstone project with Monterey Bay Aquarium (MBA), whom we are so honored to have collaborated with. MBA faced an inventory management problem: artifacts were stored in labeled boxes, but there was no scalable solution to keep track of everything. Plus, internal departments occasionally needed to borrow items! We spent half a year collaborating with each other, and are so proud of our efforts and our proposed solution. Thanks for checking out our project website, and feel free to connect with us on LinkedIn!
About Catherine
Catherine has a B.S. in Cognitive Science from UCSD, and a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction & Design from UC Irvine. She has previously interned at Neoboard as a UI/UX Designer and UCSD Design Lab as a UX Researcher. In her free time, she loves to crochet!
About Christy
Christy has a B.S. in Psychobiology from UCLA, and a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction & Design from UC Irvine. She has previously worked at Gryphon Scientific LLC as a UI/UX Specialist, and is now working as a UX Design Analyst at Deloitte. In her free time, she enjoys gaming with friends!
About Jesse
Jesse has a B.A. in Business Economics as well as a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction & Design from UC Irvine. During his time as an undergraduate student, he has been in many lead roles where he conducted events and trainings to help students and faculty. In his free time, he enjoys eating acai bowls!
About Julie
Julie has a B.S. in Business Administration from San Jose State University. She has experience working in financial auditing, but has always been interested in art and design. She has since switched careers and obtained a Masters in Human-Computer Interaction & Design from UC Irvine. She was previously at Branch as a UI/UX Intern. In her free time, she enjoys drawing!
MHCID @ UCI
MHCID stands for Master of Human-Computer Interaction and Design. It's the Master's program at UC Irvine that brought our team together and connected us with Monterey Bay Aquarium!
MHCID is a 1-year remote Master's program and we're part of the 8th
cohort, known as C8. Each cohort is diverse, with students who have
just graduated from undergrad, career switchers, and those looking to
deepen their expertise in their current fields. MHCID has a few,
required in-person dates throughout the program to meet face-to-face
with faculty and peers.
As part of the program, students must complete a six-month capstone
project during the Spring and Summer quarters. MHCID partners with
several established organizations to provide students with hands-on
experience, collaborating on real business needs!
If you'd like to find out more, you can visit the
MHCID website. Zot zot!
Monterey Bay Aquarium
The
Monterey Bay Aquarium
is a famous public aquarium located on the edge of the Pacific Ocean
in Monterey, California. It’s renowned for its stunning exhibits
featuring a wide variety of marine life. The aquarium's exhibits are
designed to replicate the natural habitats of the ocean and include a
kelp forest, open sea exhibit, and deep-sea environments. Monterey Bay
Aquarium also focuses on research and education, making it a beloved
destination for visitors and a leader in marine science. It's an
inspiring place that combines the beauty of the ocean with a
commitment to preserving it!
For our capstone project, we were linked up with Pamela from the
Education department, who was our main point of contact for project
updates, planning on-site visits, and contacting MBA employees to
interview and test our prototype with.
Everyone at MBA is
extremely friendly and deeply cares about what they do. We were given
a lot of freedom in how we wanted to conduct the project and scope the
solution, so we had a fun and stress-free time working with them! It
was a very enjoyable learning experience that showed us we can work on
cool projects with understanding and passionate people.
Fun tidbit - Julie & Catherine saw a humpback whale while they were
visiting!