| title | resume |
|---|---|
| layout | page |
Molly Jane Nicholas is an award-winning researcher with experience in both qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her research investigates opportunities and challenges at the intersection of performance and technology. She draws together expertise from performing practitioners, scholarship from the world of performance studies, and deployed functional prototypes as part of her work designing computational systems to support diverse forms of "performance". Previously, she worked as a Software Engineer at Qualcomm, where she developed FIRST Robotics’ new robotics platform. Since then, she has enjoyed research internships at Snap and Microsoft. She has also been a dancer, worked as a puppeteer with Liebe Wetzel's Lunatique Fantastique, and trained circus arts at the Clown Conservatory. Molly Jane received her B.A. in 2014 from the University of California, Berkeley with a double major in Computer Science and Cognitive Science.
the connections between communication mediums (e.g., spoken audio, multiple video sources, text transcripts) to enable people to fully participate in and better work with digital communication. As a systems researcher in Human-Computer Interaction, I embed machine learning technologies (e.g., NLU, NLG) into new human interactions that I then deploy to test. Using my systems, remote content creators more effectively collaborate, video authors efficiently create accessible descriptions for blind users, and instructors help students to learn and retain key points. To inform future systems that capture what is important to domain experts and people with disabilities, I conduct and collaborate on in-depth qualitative (e.g., AAC communication, memes) and quantitative studies (e.g., 360° Video, VR Saliency). My long term research goal is to make communication more effective and accessible to all.
cv as pdf{:target="_blank"}
Molly Jane Nicholas
Office: 143 Sutardja Dai Hall
EECS Department
University of California, Berkeley
Berkeley, CA, USA
molecule [at] berkeley [dot] edu
University of California, Berkeley Aug 2016 - Present
Ph.D. in Computer Science (in progress)
University of California, Berkeley Sept 2011 - May 2014
B.A. in Computer Science and Cognitive Science
GPA: 3.591
Clown Conservatory, San Francisco Circus Center Aug 2007 - May 2009
Professional Clown Certificate
Knox College August 2005 - June 2007
GPA: 3.69
Gymnazium Lud'ka Pika, Plzeň, Czech Republic Aug 2003 - May 2004
Language Achievement Certificate
| 
| Guardians of Practice: A Contextual Inquiry of Failure-Mitigation Strategies within Creative Practices César Torres, Sarah Sterman, Molly Jane Nicholas, Richard Lin, Eric Pai, Eric Paulos. ACM Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS'18)|
| 
| AlterWear: Battery-Free Wearable Displaysfor Opportunistic Interactions. Christine Dierk, Molly Jane Nicholas, Eric Paulos. ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'18)|
| 
| Häiriö: Human Hair as an Interactive Material. Christine Dierk, Sarah Sterman, Molly Jane Nicholas, Eric Paulos. ACM Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (TEI'18) - Video - Instructable - Project page|
| 
| Illumination Aesthetics: Light as a Creative Material within Computational Design. Cesar Torres, Jasper O’Leary, Molly Nicholas, Eric Paulos. ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI'17) - Teaser Video - Full Video|
Developed the new robot control system for FIRST Tech Challenge, creating two Android apps to interface with custom hardware. Invented, designed and developed the Qbadge, a wearable device to facilitate engaging interactive experiences, and enable further hardware exploration.
Chicken Stock. 3d live animation using found-object puppets to tell the story of Avian Flu from the birds’ point of view. Bunraku-style puppetry involves three people on one puppet.
Grace Hopper October 2016
Qualcomm Qnnect (Qbadge event): event lead, speaker.
Qualcomm QWCC Conference January 2016
Sewable Circuits Workshop: workshop lead.
Latina Giving Circle January 2016
Circuit Stickers Workshop: workshop lead.
Tech Talk: speaker.
Qualcomm DECA Conference January 2016
Sewable Circuits Workshop: workshop lead.
Mentor.
Grace Hopper October 2015
Qualcomm HardWEAR Shindig (Qbadge event): event lead, speaker.
Student Opportunity Lab: You++ [Resume Critique]: speaker.
EmpowHERment Conference, Qualcomm August 2015
Hackathon mentor, speaker
Languages Java, Android, Python, Arduino, bash, Czech
Hardware Experience Arduino, Particle, PCB design, SMD soldering
Development Tools Version control, Unix CLI tools, Android Studio
- Theory and Applications of AR and VR CS294
- Questioning New Media NWMEDIA 201
- HCI Research CS 260B
- Needs and Usability Assessment INFO 214
- Information Visualization INFO 247
- History and Theory of New Media NWMEDIA 200
- Learning for Cooperation and the DARPA Spectrum Collaboration Challenge CS 294-133
- Algorithmic Human Robotic Interaction CS 294-115
- Critical Making NWMEDIA C203
NSF GRFP April 2018
NSF GRFP
Best Paper Award ACM CHI'17 May 2017
for Illumination Aesthetics
BCNM 2017 Summer Research Award May 2017
This award is given to a select number of students based on promising academic research proposals.
EECS Excellence Award August 2016
Awarded to a select number of students based on outstanding academic record.
Achievement Rewards for College Scientists Fellowship August 2016
This fellowship, the result of a highly competitive process, is presented only to Berkeley's top admitted doctoral students. The nomination, as submitted by a faculty member in the EECS program, underwent rigorous review by a campus-wide faculty committee charged with identifying the very best nominees.
Qualstar March 2016
For outstanding contributions at Qualcomm, Inc. "For organizing the wearable technology workshop for our team and enthusiastically taking us through each part of the class including wiring, sewing, and programming our arduino core. Thank you for your time and efforts." (Michael DiBattista)
Qualstar December 2015
For outstanding contributions at Qualcomm, Inc. "Thanks for leading the Wearables Workshop in partnership with the Learning Center!" (Maritza Borunda)
Qualstar November 2015
For outstanding contributions at Qualcomm, Inc. "I'd like to award Molly for her contribution to Grace Hopper 2015. She was responsible for the successful Qbadge event. She came up with the innovative idea and led the task to completion. The event was well received in the conference." (Fang Chen)
Qualstar August 2015
For outstanding contributions at Qualcomm, Inc. "Molly's brainchild developed Qbadge prototype which played huge role in making Tinkering Workshop and QBUDS Closing event a great success. She is innovative problem solver, hard working, enthusiastic, great team player and technically very strong." (Rinachi Garg)
Qualstar October 2014
For outstanding contributions at Qualcomm, Inc. "Thanks for all of your hard work to make our presence at Grace Hopper a success!" (Vito Bica)
NeoPixels for Fauxhawks and Other Hair Fun #WearableWednesday. Leslie Birch, Adafruit. 28 Oct 2015
© {{ site.time | date: '%Y' }} / {{ site.author.name }} / license / [email](mailto:{{ site.author.email }})