My research broadly probes the way cultural, political, and economic factors interact with the design and development of information infrastructures. My recent research examines the production and circulation of government data, and how these datasets interact with social, political, and economic systems. I start with these data infrastructures’ historical beginnings and follow them through their standardization in policy, their circulation in technical systems, and their reuse by the public. The topic of emerging data infrastructures grows increasingly important as these systems condition the possibility for new economies, forms of governance, civic behavior, and political struggle.\r\n\r\nI received my Ph.D. from the Department of Information Studies at UCLA in 2016, and my MLIS from the same department in 2014. I have a Masters in New Media from the University of Amsterdam (2011). I am currently a lecturer in the School of Media, Culture, and Design at Woodbury University.\r\n\r\n
Teaching adults to read is a difficult enough task in and of itself, but in rural Mali, teachers also face classrooms without electricity and books weathered by the punishing desert climate. Enter the Kinkajou Projector, a fusion of high and low technology that makes teaching night literacy classes as..
Americans take 911 for granted, but in many developing nations a centralized emergency telephone number is unheard of. In Mumbai, a private ambulance company has stepped up to fill the void in emergency medical service. In a city where "ambulance" used to be synonymous with "hearse," Mumbai residents..
As we head into the last year of the two thousand aughts, we take a look at some of the numbers that shaped our lives this past year. Thanks for the memories, 2008..\r\n
From cicadas who hibernate for 17 years to checkerboard-camouflaged cuttlefish, some animals have powers that border on the super. Artists Kenichi Okada and Chris Woebken have created three devices designed to give children a chance to experience heightened animal senses. For example, their Bird Device..
Not only are robots being used for military offensives, but they are also being deployed to rescue wounded soldiers. These robot medics can evacuate downed servicemen from situations too dangerous for normal reconnaissance missions. Rescue bots, most of which are still in the development phase, ensure..
Robots are assisting soldiers both on the battlefield and off. Some 30,000 men and women have lost limbs over the course of the conflict in Iraq, and the latest in prosthetic technology is helping them readjust to normal life. These cutting edge prostheses are equipped with robotic joints and computer..