Karol Dissertation Fellowships

Kat Allen is a Ph.D. candidate in the Mechanical Engineering department and the Human-Robot Interaction program, jointly advised by Dr. Elaine S. Short (Computer Science) and Dr. Chris Rogers (Mechanical Engineering). Her research explores intuitive physical robot control interfaces for close-quarters human-robot interaction in a variety of robot morphologies, ranging from stuffed-toy robots in Kindergarten classrooms to state-of-the-art robot arms assisting innovators and creators in the makerspace, laboratory, or studio.

Ymbar I. Polanco Pino is a Ph.D. candidate in Civil and Environmental Engineering at Tufts University and a member of the CEEO community. Advised by Dr. Greses Pérez, his research explores how engineering education can become more just, culturally responsive, and connected to communities. Drawing on multilingual learning, public art, environmental justice, and emerging technologies, he studies how students and communities can bring their lived experiences into engineering knowledge-making and expand how engineering serves society. 

Geling (Jazz) Xu is a Ph.D. candidate in STEM Education at Tufts University and a research assistant at the Center for Engineering Education and Outreach. Her research explores how emerging technologies can support K-12 teachers and students in engineering design and how to translate engineering concepts into language that teachers and students can readily understand. Her dissertation focuses on “teachers' professional learning about implementing engineering design with new technological tools and approaches.” Outside of work, she enjoys playing the drums, building with LEGO, playing basketball, collecting sneakers, and spending time with her two cats.

David Zabner is a Ph.D. candidate in STEM Education. David’s dissertation research focuses on a second language acquisition inspired model of programming language acquisition and its application to CS pedagogy. His research interests also include student responses to failure, academic buoyancy, engineering design education, and computer science and engineering education generally. Before starting his Ph.D., David taught at Cornell College and the Startup Institute Boston, completed a masters in CS at Tufts, and spent 8 years working as a software engineer at various startups. David was a founding member of the team at Cazena where his work focused on data transfer, automated DevOps, and backup systems. David works under Dr. Trevion Henderson, Dr. David Hammer, and Dr. Chris Rogers and plans to complete his Ph.D. in early 2027.