Postdoctoral Associate, Dept. of Computer Science at Virginia Tech
Roanoke, Virginia Area
- Current
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- Postdoctoral Associate at Virginia Tech
- Scholars of the Future Program Coordinator, Dept. of Computer Science at Virginia Tech
- Instructor, Dept. of Computer Science at Virginia Tech
- Past
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- Usability Consultant, Network Infrastructure and Services at Virginia Tech
- Research Experience for Undergraduates Program Coordinator, Dept. of Computer Science at Virginia Tech
- Usability Consultant at Meridium Inc
- Graduate Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Computer Science at Virginia Tech
- Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Computer Science at Virginia Tech
- Research Assistant, Dept. of Architecture at Virginia Tech
- Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Chemistry at Virginia Tech
- Education
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- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Nagarjuna University
- Connections
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137
connections
- Industry
- Information Technology and Services
- Websites
Pardha Pyla’s Summary
Postdoctoral associate in the Department of Computer Science at Virginia Tech. Research focus on designing for user experience and on effective ways of developing interactive systems. Experience in teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in human-computer interaction. Usability consultant with emphasis on best practices for integrating usability engineering practices into software development.
Pardha Pyla’s Specialties:
usability engineering processes and techniques including but not limited to ethnographic analyses, rapid prototyping, interaction design, usability evaluation, and process improvement.
Pardha Pyla’s Experience
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Postdoctoral Associate
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
December 2007 — Present (2 years 1 month)
Managing the NSF-funded Scholars of the Future program, and teaching graduate and undergraduate human-computer interaction courses
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Scholars of the Future Program Coordinator, Dept. of Computer Science
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
January 2007 — Present (3 years )
Recruiting and mentoring 12 minority undergraduate students in Computer Science to encourage the pursuit of graduate studies
Planning relevant activities for the scholars to enrich their undergraduate experience and prepare them for graduate school -
Instructor, Dept. of Computer Science
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
May 2004 — Present (5 years 8 months)
Teaching human-computer interaction courses including graduate-level Usability Engineering and undergraduate-level Human-Computer Interaction
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Usability Consultant, Network Infrastructure and Services
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
August 2008 — August 2008 (1 month)
Performing usability walkthroughs for VT Emergency Notification system (a campus-wide emergency alerts management system)
Identifying usability problems and providing redesign solutions -
Research Experience for Undergraduates Program Coordinator, Dept. of Computer Science
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
May 2006 — July 2007 (1 year 3 months)
Organizing an eight-week NSF-funded program
Recruiting and mentoring 24 undergraduate women and minorities from over a dozen universities in various aspects of HCI research
Leading discussions and sometimes lecturing on a variety of topics in HCI
Coordinating and instituting various activities including a final research symposium to ensure positive research experience -
Usability Consultant
Meridium Inc
(Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Computer Software industry)
2006 — 2007 (1 year )
Performed usability walkthroughs for Meridium’s suite of software systems
Identified usability problems and provided redesign solutions
Introduced usability engineering best practices and guidelines into the development life cycle -
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Dept. of Computer Science
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
August 2002 — December 2006 (4 years 5 months)
Usability engineering – Graduate course (Spring 2003/2004, Fall 2004/2006)
Human-computer interaction – Junior/senior course (Summer 2003, Fall 2003/2005, Spring 2006)
Graphical user interfaces – Special study senior-level course (Spring 2005)
User interface software – Special study graduate course (Fall 2002) -
Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Computer Science
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
May 2005 — August 2005 (4 months)
Research and design team for DCART (Usability Data Collection, Analysis, and Reporting Tool) project
Designing tools to support usability engineering life cycle activities and products
Creating a conceptual metaphor that uses multi-view visualization to make DCART system model intuitive
Developing low-fidelity paper prototypes and conducted lab-based usability evaluations -
Research Assistant, Dept. of Architecture
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
March 2001 — August 2002 (1 year 6 months)
Duties involved simulation and optimization of structural data from architecture designs
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Graduate Research Assistant, Dept. of Chemistry
Virginia Tech
(Educational Institution; 5001-10,000 employees; Higher Education industry)
June 2001 — May 2002 (1 year )
Developing web-based and standalone applications in Java for data mining, analyzing, and recording patterns in sets of torsion angles of protein structures
Gathering and analyzing requirements, designing, implementing, and deploying the applications designed for chemistry researchers
Pardha Pyla’s Education
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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Doctor of Philosophy , Computer Science , 2002 — 2007
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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Graduate Certificate , Human-computer interaction , 2005 — 2006
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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Master of Science , Computer Science , 2002 — 2006
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Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
Master of Science , Computer Engineering , 2001 — 2002
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Nagarjuna University
Bachelor of Technology , Electronics and Communication Engineering , 1995 — 1999
Additional Information
Pardha Pyla’s Websites:
Pardha Pyla’s Interests:
Researching effective ways to develop interactive software, usability engineering, software engineering, teaching human-computer interaction related courses, usability consulting, and photography.
Pardha Pyla’s Groups:
UPE, ACM SIGCHI
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Usability Professionals' Association International (UPA-I) -
Green Technology Entrepreneurship Academy
Pardha Pyla’s Honors:
• Outstanding Graduate Teaching Award, Dept. of Computer Science, VT, 2008
• Invited Student Commencement Speaker, Graduate Commencement Ceremony, VT, 2007
• Outstanding Doctoral Student, College of Engineering, VT, 2007
• Citizen Scholar Award, for scholarship in service to the community, VT, 2007
• Recipient of Graduate Research Development Project Award, VT, Fall 2006
• First Place in Engineering, Interactive demo and poster presentation, Embodied data objects: Tangible Interfaces to Information Appliances, 22nd Annual Research Symposium and Exposition, VT, 2006
• Featured Graduate Student of the Month, VT, March 2005
• Dean's List for Outstanding Instructors/Teaching Excellence, College of Engineering, VT, Summer 2004
• Best In Show and Crowd Favorite, Creative Design Contest, VT, 2007
• First Place, Photography Category, Graduate Life Center Art and Photography Contest, VT, Fall 2006/2007
Pardha Pyla’s Contact Settings
Interested In:
- career opportunities
- consulting offers
- new ventures
- expertise requests
- reference requests
- getting back in touch
