President: Briana Sobel
Briana Sobel was the President of the HFES Student Chapter in 2021. Her research interests include anthropomorphism of computer interfaces and perceptions of media affordances. Her personal interests include dogs, puns, and contemplating the inevitable heat death of the universe.
Vice-President and Social Chair: Allison Garibaldi
Allison Garibaldi is a 4th year student in the Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology PhD program. She works with Dr. James Szalma in the Performance Research Lab, investigating the effects of the human need to belong on vigilance performance and social media use. She is also known as the Mother of Cats, Queen of the Extroverted Introverts, and Defender of the Real Housewives as Quality Television.
Treasurer and Historian: Steven Ford
Steven Ford is a third year student in the Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology Ph.D. program. His main research interests broadly focus on visual cognition and user experience research. Aside from being the chapter President, he is also the manager of the Industry-Based UX Academy (iUXA) at UCF and a User Experience Researcher for American Plant Exchange. He is also a devoted husband, father, guitar enthusiast, and constant reader of Stephen King.
Outreach Chair: Natalie Paquette
Natalie is a doctoral candidate in Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology at the University of Central Florida. She works with Dr. Joseph Schmidt investigating the neural underpinnings of memory and attention to assess how they affect broader cognitive function. She received her M.A. in Applied Experimental & Human Factors Psychology from UCF while pursuing her PhD. She previously received an M.A. in Psychology with a concentration in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience from George Mason University. When she is not doing schoolwork you can find her at the gym, outdoors, or binging Gilmore Girls with her black cat Sesame.
Secretary: Kristen Schmidt
Kristen Schmidt is a second-year student in the Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology PhD program. She works with Dr. Valerie Sims in the Applied Cognition and Technology lab with research on topics such as usability in controller design, perceived control, human-animal interaction, and anthropomorphism. In her spare time, she enjoys creative writing, yoga, and playing tabletop games and video games.
Webmaster: Gabby Vasquez
Gabby was the webmaster for the HFES Student Chapter in 2021 and a student in the Modeling and Simulation Ph.D. program. Her research interests are in augmented cognition, system transparency, and human-robot/ human-automation teams. When she’s not in the lab, you can find her snuggling with her cats whist contemplating her life choices and head-butting dogs (not all at the same time). She also holds the (personal) record of consuming an entire burrito bowl from Chipotle in 4 minutes.