September 2022

Mason HCI Community Building

The Center for Advancing Human-Machine Partnerships (CAHMP) and the Institute of Digital InnovAtion (IDIA) co-organized on June 21-22 a two-day Human Computer Interaction (HCI workshop. The workshop signaled the beginning of a new stage in interdisciplinary research and community building around HCI at Mason.

This hybrid event brought together thirteen Mason’s Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) researchers across the School of Computing, the School of Art, and the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Workshop participants built community, identified gaps and opportunities in the national HCI research landscape, outlined core research expertise and capabilities in the Mason HCI community in direct alignment with national priorities, and formulated synergistic research development activities.

The second day featured a visit by Dr. Andruid Kerne, current NSF Program Director in the Directorate for Computer Information Science and Engineering, and provided the workshop participants with the opportunity to engage directly with an NSF Program Director on relevant HCI-related opportunities across the Foundation.

This workshop marks the beginning of a new day for HCI research at Mason, as well as the beginning of direct, guided collaborations between IDIA and the Transdisciplinary Centers.

Mason Participants:

Sanmay Das, Professor of Computer Science, SoC; Co-director, CAHMP

Craig Yu, Associate Professor of Computer Science, SoC

Myeong Lee, Assistant Professor of Information Sciences, CEC

Brittany Johnson, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, SoC

Kevin Moran, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, SoC

Gerald Matthews, Professor of Psychology, CHSS

Shanshan Cui, Associate Professor, School of Art

Ziyu Yao, Assistant Professor of Computer Science, SoC

Zhisheng Yan, Assistant Professor of IST, SoC

Yotam Gingold, Associate Professor of Computer Science, SoC

Vivian Motti, Assistant Professor of IST, SoC

Vania Neris, Associate Professor – Department of Computing – Federal University of São Carlos – Brazil; Visiting Scholar – Department of Information Sciences and Technology – George Mason University

Peng Warweg, Assistant Director, CAHMP

Amarda Shehu, Professor of Computer Science, SoC; AVP of Research, IDIA

Congratulations to our winning teams:

1st Place Winner – Team “Reach” – Brenda Henriquez, Andi Motas and Leela Yaddanapudi

2nd Place Winner – Team “Play Out Sports” – Janit Bidhan, Sreenivasa Rayaprolu

3rd Place Winner – Team “DigiMicro” – Kanwal Ahmad, Ebtesam Al Haque, and Akshath Phillips (not all names are included here)

Our entrepreneurship program supports students’ startup interest in the area around humans, machines and artificial intelligence. Cross disciplinary teams are highly encouraged. Please check out the program details below:

Program Timeline:

Time & Location	Event Agenda	Team Presentation Description
2/18 (Friday) noon @ MIX Room 2107	Featured speaker: Ms. Gisele Stolz, Director of Mason’s Innovation Exchange – MIX Team Kick-off presentations	Kick-off Presentation should be no more than 3 minutes and focus on a general introduction of your business idea, what problem you want to solve and your team members.
3/4(Friday) noon @ MIX Room 2107	Featured speaker: Mr. Neil Levin, CEO and Founder of VR Training. Team Market Research presentations	Market research presentation should be no more than 3 minutes and should be a summary of business analysis of a competitor using the “Business Model Canvas” template.
3/17 (Thursday) 11am	Office Hour	Discussion and questions on market research.
3/18 (Friday) 11am	Office Hour	Discussion and questions on market research.
3/31 (Thursday) noon	Featured speaker: Mr. Michael Ross, CEO and Founder of Beanstalk Farm. Team Customer Discovery presentations	Customer discovery presentation should be no more than 3 minutes and focus on your customer discovery findings (including how you identify your customer, main interview questions, the customers’ pain points and potential value proposition of your business).
4/15 (Friday) noon	Office Hour	Discussion and questions on customers’ pain points and ways in which your product’s value propositions address those pain points.
4/29 (Friday) noon	Office Hour	Discussion and questions on customers’ pain points and ways in which your product’s value propositions address those pain points, and final pitch presentations.
5/6 (Friday) noon	Featured speaker: David Grossman, Senior Director, Technology Transfer & Industry Collaboration at George Mason University Team final pitch presentation outline review	Teams will need to submit an outline of your final presentation (or draft presentation) before this meeting. We will provide one-on-one team feedback after the featured speaker talk. Please refer to Final Presentation Guidelines below. Teams should post your outline or draft in your designated and private MS Teams space.
5/13 (Friday) noon	Office Hour	Provide feedback to team’s presentation draft.
5/19 (Thursday) 1:30 – 3:30pm @ MIX The MakerSpace	Final pitch presentation	Final Presentation Guidelines: Presentation time limit is 10 minutes per team (Excessive overtime can be viewed negatively) Presentation should demonstrate: Introducing your business Idea (your initial thoughts) How you conducted your customer discovery What pain point did you discover The value propositions of your product Feasibility of your product (why would your customers willingly pay for your product) What you’ve learned from the process, your vision for the future, what’re the foreseeable risks Teams should be prepared for questions from the judges after your presentation.

Frequently Asked Questions:

1. How many members can be on a team? We highly recommend a team of 3 or less. A smaller team allows all members to contribute evenly and will give members the most chances to learn and engage with our program. Besides, according to start-up experts, most businesses started with a small team which is more agile and adaptive than larger teams. (Exceptions of larger teams are allowed for this program. Please keep in mind, awards are all team-based.)

2. What does joining the program look like? There will be three monthly meetings with team presentations, educational content, and guest speakers (see the timeline above). There will also be a final competition presentation later in May. Teams are expected to collaborate on their own and engage with their mentors in between the monthly meetings. There are no mandatory assignments or hours required to participate. Teams are encouraged to find the pace and methods that work best for them.

What are the awards?

Three teams will be selected for Gold, Silver and Bronze. Award prizes are as follows:

Gold – a team cash award of $2,000 and access to the GMU I-Corps program for an additional $3,000 team fund
Silver – a team cash award of $1,200 and access to the GMU I-Corps program for an additional $3,000 team fund
Bronze – a team cash award of $800 and access to the GMU I-Corps program for an additional $3,000 team fund

How are teams judged?

While it will be important you present a viable business idea (no prototype required) at the final presentation, the judges will also consider how your team work together (including how you overcome obstacles), what you’ve learned, and how you get to where you are. Important: even if you decide in the end your original business idea is non-viable, you can still win the competition by showing how you came to that conclusion. While you would not be a candidate for I-Corps without a viable business, you would maintain eligibility for I-Corps, in case you decide to pursue a business idea in the future.

Do teams need a mentor?

Yes, a mentor is critically important in your learning and success in this program. Please seek out individuals who have entrepreneurial experience or the technical expertise associated with your team’s business focus. It can be Mason faculty or non-Mason personnel.

Who can participate as a team member?

All current Mason students (undergraduate and graduate) are eligible. A non-Mason student can participate as a collaborator but will not be eligible for awards.

Useful Resources:

https://steveblank.com/tools-and-blogs-for-entrepreneurs/

CAHMP Contact: Peng Warweg pwarweg@gmu.edu