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Current Students

2023-2024 GSA Officers

The HCDE Graduate Student Association (GSA) is a registered student organization founded and operated by HCDE graduate students. The GSA's mission is to support learning, socializing, volunteering, and career-path opportunities for HCDE graduate students, and engage with the student body.

2023-2024 HCDE GSA Officers

Rohan Pal

President

Rohan Pal (he/him)

First-year Master's student
rohanpal@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • Point person for communication for students, faculty, and department administrators 
  • Oversees and facilitates meetings
  • Sets vision and priorities for the GSA 
  • Liaison to the HCDESA (Undergraduate Student Association)
  • Exploring typography and map stores
  • Trying hikes and loving ice skating
  • Thriller movies, TV shows, MINECRAFT!!!
  • Startups - a lot of early stage startup experience
  • AI, Future of Work, Social Systems
  • Formula 1

 

Tiffany Dewitt

Vice President

Tiffany Dewitt (any pronouns)

first-year master's student | UX Researcher
tmdewitt@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • Assists and coordinates volunteer, recruitment, and social events
  • Responsible for communicating with the department and discussing any concerns or ideas from community members
  • Takes proactive steps to increase and develop HCDE representation and awareness on and off campus
  • Maintains relationship with RSO
  • My super cute cat Finnegan
  • Making crochet plants & accessories
  • Rewatching my comfort anime
  • Figure skating
  • Changing careers
  • Resumes, portfolio slides, interviews
  • How can we best support you in HCDE?
  • Sustainable fashion & mindful consumption

 

Kevin Shum

Community Relations Officer

Kevin Shum (he/him)

Second-year Master's student
kevshum@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • The main point of contact with people outside of GSA and HCDE, and maintain relationships that GSA has already built
  • Build new relationships with professionals in the UX field
  • Coordinate marketing efforts for GSA events, including maintaining email lists, social media accounts, and print advertising
  • Competing with UW Figure Skating
  • Taking photos on my Fuji X-E4
  • Exploring the city through food
  • Learning new languages (currently Spanish)
  • Transitioning from tech to design & alternate career paths outside of tech-centered UX roles
  • Study abroad with UW
  • Feel free to reach out if you wanna chat about anything that’s on your mind!

 

Lily

MS Curriculum Representative

Lily Yang (she/her)

First-year Master's student | Product Designer
lilyyang@uw.edu | LinkedIn

Representing HCDE Master's students on the HCDE MS Curriculum Committee.

  • Dancing (Contemporary/Jazz)
  • Audiobooks + podcasts (favs: 99pi and Hidden brain)
  • Cooking/learning about nutrition
  • Long walks around the park (catch me at Green Lake!)
  • Curriculum and degree planning
  • Designing your personal brand for portfolio
  • Side projects and working with HCDE community partners
  • On campus educational resources
Aneesha Lakra

International Student Representative

Aneesha Lakra (she/her)

First-year master's student | UX Researcher
alakra@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • Representing and advocating for the international student body for GSA
  • Talking to people from different cultures and see how GSA can better serve our international students
  • Getting more international students involved in GSA and help them get connected to the broader UX community in Seattle
  • Anything remotely athletic, I am very easily talked into trying new sports and adventures
  • 5 minute Ted-Ed videos
  • Reading about the cosmos
  • Freestyle slalom skating
  • HCI Research
  • Combining academics and hobbies through research
  • International Student Life
  • Your passions!
Katherine Swei

International Student Representative

Katherine Swei (she/her)

First-year Master's student | Product Designer
kswei10@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • Representing and advocating for the international student body for GSA
  • Talking to people from different cultures and see how GSA can better serve our international students
  • Getting more international students involved in GSA and help them get connected to the broader UX community in Seattle
  • Finding foodie-approved restaurants
  • Exploring coffee shops
  • Cooking and eating
  • Planning my next trip place

 

  • Any food recommendation
  • Fun places and activities in Seattle
  • HCDE curriculum and degree planning

 

Annie Yang

Affinity Group Lead

Annie Yang (she/her)

First-year master's student |Product Designer
anyang95@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • Dancing (hip-hop, waacking, pole dancing)
  • Live Music/Concerts/Festivals
  • Obsessing over other people’s cats
  • Stand up paddleboarding
  • Mountain lake hikes
  • Badminton
  • Navigating career change (resumes, portfolio reviews)
  • Queer joy, self-expression, and healing your inner child
  • Cultivating self-trust and embracing change
Saumya Goyal

Social Media Manager

Saumya Goyal (she/her)

First-year Master's student | Product Designer
saumya21@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • Aerobics, Running, Going to the IMA
  • Curating Memes
  • Learning Languages
  • Cooking and Baking
  • Being out in Nature
  • Human-Computer Interaction
  • Corporate World and the Industry
  • Artificial Intelligence, Generative AI, Futuristic Tech
  • Fitness and Health
  • Decision Making, Cognition and Psychology
  • Optimism
Frances Yang

Graphics Co-Lead

Frances Yang (she/her)

First-year Master's student | Product Designer
franyang@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • Baking
  • Traveling
  • Sketching / Drawing / Painting
  • Geeking out about graphic design and typography
  • Cafe hopping
  • Hoarding cute stationery
  • Your favourite artist or illustrator
  • Job hunting as an international student in UX
  • Food recommendations
  • Interview, portfolio presentation
James Tran

Graphics Co-Lead

James Tran (he/him)

First-year master's student | Experience Designer
jamespt2@uw.edu | LinkedIn

  • Hiking
  • Basketball
  • Live music/concerts
  • Learning how to play guitar
  • Video games
  • Freelance designing
  • Design Apps
  • Portfolio Ideas
  • Working full-time while going to school part-time
G

PhD Student Representative

Sourojit Ghosh (G) (he/him)

Second-year PhD Student | Human-Centered Data Science | Natural Language Processing | Machine Learning

Website | ghosh100@uw.edu

  • Connects HCDE Master's students with HCDE PhD students
  • Identifies relevant areas of collaboration between the entire HCDE graduate student body
  • Playing soccer
  • Writing fanfictions and poetry
  • Watching horror/suspense TV shows or movies
  • Model UN conferences
  • Anything about soccer
  • International student life
  • Politics (US, Indian, or international!)
G

PhD Student Representative

Leslie Coney (she/her)

Second-year PhD Student | Human Centered Design and Engineering, Community Based Participatory Research, Black Maternal Health

LinkedIn | lesconey@uw.edu

  • Connects HCDE Master's students with HCDE PhD students
  • Identifies relevant areas of collaboration between the entire HCDE graduate student body
  • Catching up on Netflix shows
  • Cooking HelloFresh meals
  • Community Service
  • Caring for my locs
  • Traveling
  • Community based research
  • Black maternal health
  • Community service

GSA Officers 2022-2023

HCDE thanks the students who served the community in 2022-2023:

  • President: Tony Li
  • Vice President: Tomomi Matsuzaki
  • Affinity Group Lead: Fumi Tsukiyama
  • Community Relation Officer: Naomi Johnson
  • MS Curriculum Representative: Tabby Safari
  • International Student Representatives: Hsinyi Hsieh & Vanessa Chien-Lai
  • Graphics Co-Leads: Frances Yang & Pat Ho
  • Social Media Manager: Rohan Pal
  • PhD Representative: Sourojit Ghosh
  • Treasurer: Parag Nandi
  • Historian: Akshay Rawat
     

View the 2022-23 GSA Officers