Hemalathaa Kasiviwanath Yuvaraja
Syracuse University

I am 2 year PhD scholar in the department of Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation, in the School of Education at Syracuse University. My research area lies in designing 'Instructional intervention - instruction & feedback design' for Psychomotor skill learning with XR Technology (AR/VR). I am presently working with my Academic advisor ‘Dr. Tiffany A Koszalka’ developing a ‘Conceptual paper’ to theoretically demonstrate a proof of concept to determine if our research idea can be turned into a reality and to test if this idea is viable. This summer, I received Industry recognized certification for two courses ‘XR Development with Unity’ and ‘Interaction Design and Prototyping for XR’ offered by Circuit stream. My academic preparation includes 2 Bachelors in Electronics, & Education; 2 Masters in Electronics, Educational Leadership & Management. I have 9+ years of experience in the Education Industry where I have worked in different capacity at three different IB Schools in India (Indus International School, Oakridge International School, & Pathways School Gurgaon). All these schools were either Apple or Microsoft technology showcase schools that provided me with first-hand experience of designing, developing, and implementing technology tools within the school environment.

I presently hold ‘Treasurer’ at SOE & ‘University Senator’ leadership role at the University. Apart from my academic affairs at SU, I have been successfully running residential activity  ‘e-Brown Bag’ sessions since 2022, where the goal is to provide students with a dynamic experience that facilitates a connection between their academic pursuits and professional endeavors. This year we have had speakers like Luke Hobson (Senior Instructional Designer & Program Manager from MIT), Abbie Brown (Professor, Instructional Technology, Department of Mathematics, Science, and Instructional Technology in Education, East Carolina University), and Minyan He (Content Producer at LinkedIn).

If elected as GSA Rep, I would wish to work towards ‘providing support, networking opportunities, mentoring and information (for students & DELT community) about how to become a competent and ethical ID professional.” As a student representative, I will work to furthering DELT goal in developing a stronger student involvement. A primary way in which I would further this goal is supporting students' academic mentors and opportunities to aid in exploring their academic interests. I hope to achieve this by developing a list of willing academic mentors, so that students can be matched with a knowledgeable individual in their area. Further, I would work towards constructively using the existing DELT social media platform (e.g., Facebook) as a space for active discussion within the community. Finally, I hope to become involved in the continuing discussion related to what qualifies one to be a " Learning Experience Technologist." It is important that our field develops and maintains consistent standards of competence and ability to preserve our profession's integrity. I would provide a voice from the student perspective and keep the student population updated on the developments. Also, I would work to increase and maintain a constant dialogue within the DELT that strives for similar professional standards. 

Thank you for your time & consideration.
Linkedln profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/hemalathaa-k-y-222952bb/