Fall 2021 saw INIT Lab PhD student Nikita Soni successfully defending her dissertation work “Designing Interactions for Multi-touch Spherical Displays to Support Collaborative Learning in Museums” on October 14th! Defenses remained virtual this past year for safety and convenience during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Nikita’s s committee members were myself (chair), Dr. Christina Gardner-McCune, Dr. Jaime Ruiz, Dr. Sharon L. Chu, and  Dr. Kathryn A. Stofer (UF IFAS Dept of Agricultural Education and Communication). Congratulations to Dr. Soni! Nikita has since started as a tenure-track assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC)!

Here is a screenshot I took of the committee and the audience (with permission) at the defense to document the occasion: