Recipient: Jieun Sung

Jieun’s major research areas are usability & accessibility, interactivity, new media usage and effect, new media adoption and, in a bigger picture, HCI. After graduation, she will work for LG as a cloud service development team manager in South Korea.

Recipient: Yu-Hao Lee

Yu-Hao Lee is a Ph.D candidate working with Dr. Carrie Heeter and Dr. Jonathan Obar. His research mainly involves exploring how psychological differences affect digital game based learning, and how people use wiki technology to collaborate online.

Recipient: Rebecca Gray

Rebecca is a second year doctoral student interested in computer-mediated communication in personal relationships. She is particularly intrigued by the role of response time in mediated communication, both how it is both manipulated and interpreted by communication partners.

Recipient: Julia Crouse

Julia is a third-year doctoral student, who has been involved in teaching TC 101 for four semesters. She is currently working a project investigating different motivations in video games affect players. She hopes to graduate next year and continue teaching undergraduates as a professor.

Recipient: Yvette Wohn

Yvette is a third-year PhD student and is interested in the social and psychological effects of social interactions in virtual environments, particularly how non-conscious processes affect behavior. She has done research on social capital in social network games, and positive/negative effects of social media use in educational and entertainment contexts.

Recipient: Daniel DeMaiolo

Daniel has served as Producer and Designer on a client-based iOS title, Sunshine and Destruction, for Scientifically Proven Entertainment as well as working as one of the Evening Activity Coordinator for the TISM Summer Media Camps. For his Masters Project, Daniel is working on a game developed by a four-person team which investigates how in-game advertisements impact recall rates and sense of immersion in a fantasy virtual world.

Recipient: Derek DeMaiolo

Derek will graduate with his Master of Arts degree in Digital Media Arts and Technology focusing in game development with aspirations to pursue a career in game development as a Producer, UX Designer, or Game Designer. He is a member of Spartasoft, serves as a lead game design instructor for the ITEC Science and Art of Game Design after-school programs.

Recipient: Ruth Shillair

Ruth is working on her second career, she is the mother of four adult children, and the grandmother of 2.8 children (one is due any day). She has been married to her wonderful husband for a VERY long time. She works at the Writing Center for MSU, Lansing Community College, and Siena Heights University. She also does Web design, helps with a Chinese Church as coordinator of the youth and children's program, and plays guitar with a band. She loves photography, travel, gourmet cooking, and the beach. Ruth is pursuing the TISM focus to explore ways to more effectively utilize the potential of developing a pedagogy for Internet-based education that can help marginalized students and displaced workers.

Recipient: Culver Redd

Culver is a first-year MA student from Lowell, Michigan studying Serious Game Design. He holds a B.A. in Physics and Computer Science from Albion College. He will be studying game design in Summer 2012 at a University of Michigan workshop under notable designer Sid Meier, and will also work with Dr. Carrie Heeter on an educational game project to teach basic genetics and inheritance.

Recipient: Carrie Cole

Carrie is a first year graduate student studying serious games with an interest in designing meaningful entertainment. She plans to continue developing games in the future and research ways to encourage young females to be active in the game industry.