This semester QIC welcomes Natalie Paquette as a Human Factors Intern! Natalie is a Ph.D. student in the Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology program at the University of Central Florida (UCF). Natalie earned her MA in Applied Experimental and Human Factors Psychology in 2020 at UCF and her MA in Psychology focused on Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience at George Mason University in 2017. Her work has examined performance issues related to mismatched expectations, reliance on visual working memory, and the effect of restricted time intervals on error processing. Natalie’s interests include examining the neurophysiological and perceptual aspects of cognition and performance in various environments to determine optimal parameters for successful task completion.

This semester QIC welcomes ​Nicolas Uszak as a Human Factors Intern! Nicolas is a Ph.D. student at the University of Central Florida’s Human Factors and Cognitive Psychology Program. Nicolas has a Master’s in Applied Experimental Human Factors and a graduate certificate for Design Usability in Industrial Engineering, both from UCF. Previously he graduated summa cum laude with his B.A. in Psychology from Cleveland State University. His interests lie in motivation, situational awareness, automation, multi-tasking, vigilance, and machine learning. Nicolas is currently working on his dissertation involving situational awareness while operating automated vehicles. 

Shabnam Mitchell is QIC's new Project Manager! An Agile Certified Practitioner, she has 9 years of experience applying Agile methodologies and frameworks to promote organization efficiency and success. Her experience comes from a wide range of exposures from the banking and financial industries to education and construction managing both large scale and highly critical projects. Shabnam holds an MBA from the University of Phoenix and a B.A. in Economics and Urban Studies from the University of Texas at Austin. Shabnam has led projects from corporate business continuity initiatives and small business change management projects to program and portfolio management through digital disruptions. Shabnam’s professional interests are rooted in simplifying challenging endeavors while engaging and enabling teams to take risks and do their best work, whether in the classroom, at the jobsite, or in the office.