Forms, information for prospective student-athletes.
Written by Samantha Yeh
One Festa fellowship has made a difference at a national level, placing a graduate student at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) in Pittsburgh.
The student's name is Dan Ivancic, a graduate student in the human-computer interaction and integrated health systems programs. During his time at the institute, he worked on virtual reality simulations NIOSH uses to train miners.
"I'm working on a 360 degree virtual reality enclosure," Ivancic said. "It recreates experiences of going into the mine to rescue people."
So far, Ivancic has worked to make the training as realistic as possible, looking at different control schemes for the device such as whether to use controllers, incorporate a head tracking system and looking at the interface, he said.
"It's interesting from a technical standpoint because not many of these programs exist," Ivancic said. "It's nice to know we're improving training and giving more general knowledge about how these simulations work."
Ivancic was grateful for the chance to take the skills he learned in the classroom and use them on a project that would have a continuous impact.
"What I enjoy most about this whole experience, besides the cool stuff I get to work with, is that I get to do something in the real world that is going to persist once I'm done with it," he said.
Ivancic heard about the opportunity at NIOSH through his adviser and director of the HCI program, Damian Schofield.
"Damian actually sent out an email asking about it and I was immediately interested," Ivancic said. Ivancic encouraged other students to take advantage of the knowledgable faculty during their time at SUNY Oswego.
"I really enjoyed the program and I learned a lot of valuable information," Ivancic said. "I like Damian as a professor and tell other HCI students to take as many courses with Damian as you can. They might be more work, but it's worth it."
The Festa fellowship allowed Ivancic to work at NIOSH for the summer and helped him realize what he can do with his master's degree when he graduates in August 2012.
"It gives me a better idea of what I can do and how I can fit into an organization," he said. "It showed me there's a need for HCI experts and that sometimes gets overlooked."
After graduation, Ivancic hopes to find a job where he can continue his work in information technology.
"I wouldn't mind being in IT or working at any company where I can do some interface stuff," he said. "There's a lot of things I feel like I can do, and in part it's definitely due to the HCI program."
For more information on the HCI program offered by SUNY Oswego Graduate Studies, go to www.cs.oswego.edu/hci/.