Stephen Benton, Community Teaching & Technology Officer
In 2003 Stephen was awarded a BSc (Hons) in Cell Biology and Molecular Genetics by University College Dublin. Since then Stephen has held numerous roles in industry, including Production Biochemist, Technical Trainer, Health & Safety Trainer, IT Trainer, Process Improvement Specialist and Application Specialist. In 2011 Stephen obtained a Postgraduate Diploma in Education from UCD and has 4 years combined teaching experience in Science, Biology and Maths. Stephen has also worked as a resource teacher for children with special educational needs in Moyle Park College, Clondalkin. >>
Clilly Castiglia, Experience Designer
Clilly’s previous role with SMARTlab was as the Director of Operations and development until she started her own company. As Senior Vice President and Cofounder of Technology Developers LLC in New York City, her role is to oversee the design and production of new technology and experience-based projects, for clients such as Yahoo, Old NAVY/Gap, Unilever and Papalote Children’s Museum. >>
Ron Edwards, Virtual World Application Specialist
Ron Edwards is a SMARTlab PhD candidate and is SMARTlab’s Virtual World Application Specialist. He has been a pioneer in using virtual worlds for a variety of collaborative learning and working applications since 2003. He co-founded Ambient Performance in the USA and London to help organisations apply emerging consumer technologies into the workplace including social media, virtual worlds, and mobile augmented reality, creating several industry firsts including mixed reality conferences, commercial mobile augmented reality for museums and several pioneering virtual world applications for clients including consumer market research, global change management, command and control emergency response exercising and modelling traffic and driver behaviour using artificial intelligence for decision making training. >>
Aisling Kinsella, Videographer and Digital Media Asset Manager
Having worked in television location recording and post-production for several years, Aisling is responsible for the creation of the audio-visual content for SMARTlab projects. This includes documenting the activities of SMARTlab and the research work undertaken by PhD candidates. >>
Rachel Lasebikan, Communication and Events Officer
Rachel has over 15 years’ experience working in creative business innovation, marketing and development including PR, events, research, design, product development, fundraising and corporate relations. She has done this for fashion, technology, media, social enterprise, education and non-profit organisations. She holds an MA in Design Studies from Central Saint Martins, University of the Arts, London and an Honours Degree in Fashion, specialising in Fashion Promotion from Southampton University. >>
Celine Llewellyn-Jones, E-learning Support Officer
Celine is the Learning Technologist and Online Learning Coordinator & Virtual World Developer for SMARTlab. Celine is a highly experienced Learning Technologist, playing a key role in all SMARTlab’s online learning modules.
She is a renowned expert on how people move and learn through virtual worlds and mobile games. Celine has 7 years’ experience as a Learning Technologist, working in the business and academic sectors with a specific interest in games for learning, locative experiences and virtual worlds. >>
Tara Baoth Mooney, SMARTfashion & Sustainability Studio Manager
Tara’s work investigates the transcendence of sustainability through garments and textiles or ‘outer cladding’ and what that can mean to humanity on a daily basis. External cladding or garments, can act as a sustainable interface between individuals and their immediate environment, promoting reflection, emotional durability and communication. Tara sees technology as a tool or means to facilitate this communication provoking reflection as to how we interact in both our personal and immediate environments. >>
Eoin O’Brien, Artist in Residence (Music/Sound), In-house Editor
Eoin O’Brien is a composer, multi-instrumentalist and music producer. He has written many songs and tunes, played with some great bands and recorded and produced some beautiful records, as well as creating music, atmospheres and sound effects for radio, television, film, dance, theatre, advertising and audio books. He enjoys creating avant-garde and abstract sounds and soundscapes, and is dedicated to pop music. >>
Anna Sophia Schenk, Research and Online PhD Coordinator
Anna Sophia is Research and Online PhD Coordinator at SMARTlab. Born in Germany, Anna Sophia has spent the last ten years of her life in the UK, Italy, The Netherlands and India developing a strong interest in many issues related to arts, media, development and human rights, and coordinating a series of training and research activities in the NGO and university sectors. >>
Ricki Schoen, Executive Assistant to Professor Goodman and Graduate Research Administrator
Ricki has recently joined the SMARTlab team at University College Dublin as Executive Assistant/Graduate Research Administrator after spending the last 12 years with the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD) in its Dublin office. The IICD was established by the Good Friday Agreement in 1997 to deal with the issue of paramilitary weapons; as part of her role with the Commission she was awarded an MBE in 2007. >>
Turlif Vilbrandt, Digital Materialisation Expert
Turlif works with digital processes, programming and technology. He has a long history working with and developing various web technologies, 3D Computer Graphics and Digital Materialization: the accurate and complete representation of any real or imagined object digitally and/or the creation of real, tangible, usable instances of these digital objects. >>
