Amanda
Parkes is a designer interested in the relationship
of gesture, form, materiality and computation in the context
of hybrid physical-digital objects. She is currently a PhD candidate
in the Tangible Media Group at the MIT Media Lab where her research
focuses on developing intuitive and investigative learning and
design tools. Before joining the Media Lab, Amanda developed
exhibits at the Exploratorium in San Francisco, freelanced internationally
in multi-media design, and developed installations and programs
for the Science Museum in London and the the Peggy Guggenheim
Collection in Venice. She holds a B.S. in Mechanical Engineering
(Product Design) and B.A. in Art History both from Stanford University
and an M.S. in Media Arts and Sciences from MIT and has received
various internationally recognized design and art awards. Mostly
though, she more interested in cultivating an award-winning shoe
collection.
Jessica
Banks is a PhD student at MIT's Computer
Science & Artificial Intelligence Lab. Her robotics work
is driven by an interest in user interfaces from both social
interaction and physical design perspectives. Jessica holds a
B.S. in physics with a concentration in creative writing from
the University of Michigan and an M.S. in electrical engineering
and computer science from MIT. She also worked extensively in
the entertainment industry before nerding out at grad school.
Though she is currently in the 23rd grade, her passion does not
lie in academia, but in art. Her research motivations are similarly
reflected in her sculpture and in her plan to start a robotic
furniture company as soon as she graduates, be it by dint of
dissertation or default.
|