Carla Gómez Monroy

carlagm [at] alum . mit . edu

[ september 2002 - august 2004 ]

Research Assistantship and Master of Science work

Media Arts and Sciences Program
Media Laboratory
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Cambridge, MA, USA, Sep 2002 – Aug 2004

in the Electronic Publishing group with professor Walter Bender

Designed, developed, and piloted implementation of special computer hardware and software as an ad hoc remedy to a unique socio-ethnic situation. Objective: to increase interaction and reduce alienation of an underserved community in Mexico and its migrants in New York City. Collaborators: Steve Schultze did most of the hardware/software work aided by Kow Atta-Mensah, my UROP. [eRadio project] [Thesis]

Provided general technical support to HDL, the MIT Media Lab electronic publishing tool for collaborative web publishing projects.

Designed a theoretical model of a multipurpose Internet portal for underserved communities that lack access to existing resources. Objective: to empower them through participation and collaboration. Title of paper: "The Pool Effect: More Access, Sharing, & Resources."

in collaboration with the Future of Learning group

Participated as HDL Technician, Simultaneous English-Spanish Translator, and as Facilitator introducing children and their teachers to electronics, programming, and robotics in three project based with SEED Foundation (Mexico) and one with Omar Dengo Foundation (Costa Rica) for schools in low-income areas.

Other activities done on behalf of MIT Media Lab

Wrote and presented two papers

® “Familiarity and Concern in the Radio Voice of a Networked Diaspora Community," with S. Schultze, W. Bender, The 4th Media in Transition conference MiT4: the work of stories. MIT, Cambridge, MA, USA (6 May - 8 May, 2005)

® "The Pool Effect: More Access, Sharing, & Resources." Proceedings of Development by Design Conference. Bangalore, India (1 Dec -2 Dec, 2002.)

Facilitated two workshops by myself and helped facilitate four others.

® eRadio Workshops (10 days each): one in Tulcingo, Puebla, Mexico and one in New York, for my master’s thesis research project, plus several other preparatory and follow up trips (Jan - May 2004)

® Robotics Workshop in Collaboration with the Future of Learning group and Omar Dengo Foundation – San Jose, Costa Rica (16 Aug - 20 Aug, 2004)

® 2^rd National Collaborative Workshop (the Future of Learning group and SEED Foundation) Mexico City, Mexico (10 May - 14 May, 2004)

® Regional Collaborative Workshop (the Future of Learning group and SEED Foundation) Reynosa, Mexico (2 Dec - 4 Dec, 2003)

® 1^st National Collaboration Workshop (the Future of Learning group and SEED Foundation) Villahermosa, Mexico (1 Sep -5 Sep, 2003)

Created and performed live two radio programs on 88.1 FM Cambridge and Internet

® "Once upon a learning" (Friday, February 6, 2004 from 11p.m.-12 a.m.)

® "I will paint a little bit of myself using sound waves as colors and the air as my canvas" (Friday Jan 23, 2004 from 10:40-11:20pm)

Design five class projects

® eRadio, Educational Software Project Design Class, Prof. David Dockertman, Harvard Graduate School of Education (Fall 2003)

® SaySee, GROP: Intelligent Audio-Video Portals for Connecting Communities in Developing Nations, Prof. Michael Bove (Spring 2003)

® Should Airlines Overbook?, (Luke Ouko, Arnan Sipitakiat, Carla Gomez-Monroy) System Dynamics for Engineers class, Prof. K. F. Hansen (Spring 2003)

® The Common Sense Disc Jockey, (Luke Ouko, Arnan Sipitakiat, Carla Gomez-Monroy, Joan M. DiMicco) Common Sense Computing Class, Prof. Henry Lieberman (Fall 2002)

® Program-a-Ball: A programmable play space (Carla Gomez-Monroy, Chris Lyon, Thomas J. McLeish, and Elisabeth Sylvan) Tangible Interfaces Class, Prof. Hiroshi Ishii (Fall 2002)

MIT M.Sc. Application projects

® MIT Media Lab Application (Dec, 2001)

® eD Model (Dec, 2001)

Financial support

® Telmex Fellowship, MIT Media Laboratory (Sep 2002- Jun, 2004): stipend and tuition

® Secretaria de Educación Publica, Mexico (Sep 2002- Jun, 2004): complementary scholarship for post-graduate studies in a foreign country

Volunteering

® Mentor program (big sister-little sister) CFCS, Cambridge, MA.,
Nov, 2003 - Feb, 2004

20 ames street
cambridge, MA, 02139, USA