Team (All) | New MIT RAISE Site

Meet the team behind Innovating Learning and Education in the Era of AI.

MIT RAISE Team

We bring together diverse expertise from faculty, staff and students across all five schools of MIT.

Scientists

Students

Staff

Faculty and Research Scientists

Cynthia Breazeal

Director, RAISE ● Professor, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group ● Associate Director, MIT Media Lab

Breazeal leads RAISE to advance research and innovation at the intersection of AI, social empowerment, and education and to foster diversity and inclusivity in an AI literate society.

Full Bio

Hae Won Park

Co-Director, AI-Supported Learning ● Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Hae Won Park is an expert in Social Robotics and is a Principal Investigator of the Social Robot Companions Program.

Full Bio

David Birnbach

Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management

Birnbach's research focus is at the intersection of technology innovation, entrepreneurship, and vocational education.

Full Bio

Robert Shin

MIT Lincoln Lab, ISR Systems and Technology, Tactical Systems ● Director, Beaver Works at MIT

Shin is the Head of the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Tactical Systems Division at MIT Lincoln
Laboratory.

Full Bio

Hal Abelson

Co-Director, AI Literacy & Technologies ● Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, MIT CSAIL ● Founder, App Inventor

Abelson is a pioneer of constructionist learning and computational thinking.
He has developed tools and programming languages to help students learn about AI and computer science.

Full Bio

Sanjay Sarma

Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering ● Vice President, MIT Open Learning

Sarma is the VP for Open Learning at MIT, which includes the Office of Digital Learning, the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative
and the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab.

Full Bio

John Gabrieli

Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences ● Director, Martinos Imaging Center, McGovern Institute ● Director, MIT Integrated Learning Initiative

John Gabrieli is a behavioral neuroscientist.
His research focus is on the neural mechanisms of memory, cognition, and emotion in the human brain and how those mechanisms are disrupted in neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Full Bio

Irene Lee

Research Scientist, MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program and Education Arcade

Irene Lee is a research scientist in MIT's Scheller Teacher Education Program and Education Arcade.

Full Bio

Eric Klopfer

Co-Director, Professional Development and Education Research ● Professor, Comparative Media Studies/Writing ● Director, Eduction Arcade ● Co-Director, J-WEL World Education Lab

Klopfer is an expert in serious game design to promote student engagement and learning in STEM.

Full Bio

Mitchel Resnick

Advisor, RAISE ● Professor, Media Lab, Lifelong Kindergarten Group ● Founder, The Scratch Foundation

Resnick is a world leader in constructionist approaches to creative learning. His team develops the Scratch
programming language and online community, used by over 200 million children and educators around the world.

Full Bio

George Westerman

Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management ● Faculty Director, Workforce Learning, MIT Jameel World Education Lab

Westerman works at the nexus of executive leadership and
technology strategy. He has written three award-winning books and published in top journals.

Full Bio

Glenda Stump

Education Research Scientist, Open Learning

Glenda Stump is a Research Scientist for MIT's Open Learning program.

Full Bio

Cynthia Breazeal

Director, RAISE ● Professor, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group ● Associate Director, MIT Media Lab

Breazeal leads RAISE to advance research and innovation at the intersection of AI, social empowerment, and education and to foster diversity and inclusivity in an AI literate society.

Hae Won Park

Co-Director, AI-Supported Learning ● Research Scientist, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Hae Won Park is an expert in Social Robotics and is a Principal Investigator of the Social Robot Companions Program.

David Birnbach

Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management

Birnbach's research focus is at the intersection of technology innovation, entrepreneurship, and vocational education.

Robert Shin

MIT Lincoln Lab, ISR Systems and Technology, Tactical Systems ● Director, Beaver Works at MIT

Shin is the Head of the Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) and Tactical Systems Division at MIT Lincoln
Laboratory.

Hal Abelson

Co-Director, AI Literacy & Technologies ● Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, MIT CSAIL ● Founder, App Inventor

Abelson is a pioneer of constructionist learning and computational thinking.
He has developed tools and programming languages to help students learn about AI and computer science.

Sanjay Sarma

Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering ● Vice President, MIT Open Learning

Sarma is the VP for Open Learning at MIT, which includes the Office of Digital Learning, the MIT Integrated Learning Initiative
and the Abdul Latif Jameel World Education Lab.

John Gabrieli

Professor, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences ● Director, Martinos Imaging Center, McGovern Institute ● Director, MIT Integrated Learning Initiative

Irene Lee

Research Scientist, MIT Scheller Teacher Education Program and Education Arcade

Irene Lee is a research scientist in MIT's Scheller Teacher Education Program and Education Arcade.

Eric Klopfer

Co-Director, Professional Development and Education Research ● Professor, Comparative Media Studies/Writing ● Director, Eduction Arcade ● Co-Director, J-WEL World Education Lab

Klopfer is an expert in serious game design to promote student engagement and learning in STEM.

Mitchel Resnick

Advisor, RAISE ● Professor, Media Lab, Lifelong Kindergarten Group ● Founder, The Scratch Foundation

George Westerman

Senior Lecturer, MIT Sloan School of Management ● Faculty Director, Workforce Learning, MIT Jameel World Education Lab

Westerman works at the nexus of executive leadership and
technology strategy. He has written three award-winning books and published in top journals.

Glenda Stump

Education Research Scientist, Open Learning

Glenda Stump is a Research Scientist for MIT's Open Learning program.

Elizabeth Hakavy

Graduate Student, MIT App Inventor

Elizabeth is a current Master's Student studying Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence. Her undergrad was in Physics and Computer Science and is working on the crossover between Space and Conversational AI.

Jimin Lee

Undergraduate Researcher, MIT App Inventor

Jimin Lee is an undergraduate researcher at MIT App Inventor majoring in EECS.

Nada Hussein

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Nada Hussein is an M.Eng student with the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab, focusing on real-time music analysis and accompaniment.

Nisha Devasia

Undergraduate Researcher, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Nisha Devasia is an undergraduate research assistant with experience in game design and game adjacent backend engineering.

Jessica van Brummelen

Graduate Student, CSAIL, MIT App Inventor

Jessica is an EECS PhD graduate research assistant aiming to empower learners with technology to solve real world problems.

Randi Williams

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Randi Williams is a PhD graduate research assistant developing new technologies and curriculum for K-12 AI Literacy. She has developed

Xiaoxue Du

Postdoctoral Associate, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Xiaoxue Du is a Postdoctoral Associate in the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab. Her current research at MIT PRG focuses on K-12 Artificial Intelligence literacy in inclusive classrooms.

Murielle Dunand

Graduate Student, MIT App Inventor

Murielle Dunand is a MS graduate research assistant with projects in education, curriculum design, and visually accessible design.

Xiajie Zhang

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Xiajie Zhang has worked on various projects in child-robot interaction with a focus on literacy education and has experiences in affective analysis,

Chessa Hoekstra

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Chessa Hoekstra is an MEng student in the Personal Robots Group developing new tools and curricula for AI Literacy.

Daniella DiPaola

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Daniella DiPaola is a MS graduate research assistant with expertise in human factors, user-centered design,

Huili Chen

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Huili Chen is a PhD graduate research assistant in the Personal Robots group at the MIT Media Lab. Her research interests

Daniel Kim

Undergraduate Researcher, MIT App Inventor

Daniel is a freshman at MIT studying Computer Science with Data Science and Finance. He joined the MIT App Inventor team in Spring 2020.

Nicole Pang

Graduate Student, MIT CSAIL

Nicole Pang is a MEng student and research assistant in EECS working with Personal Robotics Group and App Inventor.

Stephen Kaputsos

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Stephen P. Kaputsos is a graduate research assistant exploring augmentation of human-robot collaboration.

Ishaan Grover

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Ishaan is a PhD graduate research assistant with the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab. His research

Safinah Ali

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Safinah is a PhD research assistant in the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab.

Samuel Spaulding

Graduate Student, MIT Media Lab, Personal Robots Group

Sam Spaulding is a PhD graduate research assistant with the Personal Robots Group at the MIT Media Lab. His research

Jeff Schiller

Software Developer, Security Architect and Network Manager, MIT App Inventor

Jeff has spent more than 40 years building systems that have to work 24/7 with minimal human intervention.

Grace Lin

Assessment Scientist, Playful Journey Lab

As an assessment scientist, Grace Lin is particularly interested in measurement and playful assessments for and of learning.

Sarah Wharton

Curriculum Designer

Sarah Wharton is a curriculum designer working in the Scheller Teacher Education Program.

Jeff Freilich

Program Lead, AI Literacy Project, MIT

Jeff has been at MIT for over twelve years working to develop and nurture research ties between industry and academia, as well as developing technical online courses.

Angie Zhou

Education Specialist, MIT App Inventor

Angie Zhou is part of the Education Team at MIT App Inventor. She has extensive experience teaching coding to young students.

Robert Parks

Curriculum Designer, MIT App Inventor

Robert is a curriculum developer, writer, and designer for the App Inventor team.

Alphonse Devasia

Educational Design Consultant, Dubai.

Alphonse Devasia is an independent consultant in Dubai.

Marisol Diaz

Project Manager, MIT App Inventor

Marisol Diaz has been the Project Manager for MIT App Inventor since 2013 and has been at MIT for over 20 years.

Selim Tezel

Curriculum Designer, MIT App Inventor

Selim is a former K-12 mathematics teacher who has taught overseas and in the US for 22 years,

Kristin Hall

Program Manager, RAISE, MIT Media Lab

Kristin has been at the MIT Media Lab for many years working as a liaison developing research ties between member organizations and researchers.

Scientists

Students

Staff

Meet the team behind Innovating Learning and Education in the Era of AI.

MIT RAISE Team

Faculty and Research Scientists

Cynthia Breazeal

Hae Won Park

David Birnbach

Robert Shin

Hal Abelson

Sanjay Sarma

John Gabrieli

Irene Lee

Eric Klopfer

Mitchel Resnick

George Westerman

Glenda Stump

Cynthia Breazeal

Hae Won Park

David Birnbach

Robert Shin

Hal Abelson

Sanjay Sarma

John Gabrieli

Irene Lee

Eric Klopfer

Mitchel Resnick

George Westerman

Glenda Stump

Student Research Assistants

Elizabeth Hakavy

Jimin Lee

Nada Hussein

Nisha Devasia

Jessica van Brummelen

Randi Williams

Xiaoxue Du

Murielle Dunand

Xiajie Zhang

Chessa Hoekstra

Daniella DiPaola

Huili Chen

Daniel Kim

Nicole Pang

Stephen Kaputsos

Ishaan Grover

Safinah Ali

Samuel Spaulding

Staff

Jeff Schiller

Grace Lin

Sarah Wharton

Jeff Freilich

Angie Zhou

Robert Parks

Alphonse Devasia

Marisol Diaz

Selim Tezel

Kristin Hall