About
HI
Welcome to my about page! You can learn more about my current work via Twitter.
Drop me a line if you want to chat / think of alternative futures / get feedback on your work / give me feedback on my work / offer me a cool job / trade biscuit recipes, etc! josmcdos at gmail dot com
BIO
Joselyn McDonald (she/her) is a creative technologist, designer, and researcher. Her work often explores the novel application of fabrication technologies in under-explored areas - like beauty and women's health. Through her practice, she seeks to open up new inclusive pathways for tech experimentation and critical thinking. McDonald also leverages her design expertise to support organizations in making better - more human and planet-centered - products.
McDonald was a Presidential Scholar at Parsons The New School for Design, where she earned her MFA in Design and Technology. She also earned an MS in Human-Computer Interaction from Carnegie Mellon University’s School of Computer Science, where she received the Randy Pausch fellowship.
With the support of fantastic teams, McDonald has led the development of many innovative technology products. In 2013, she co-founded Blink Blink Creative Circuit Kits, an organization that designs technology kits and curriculum to support inclusive STEM education. In 2015, Time Magazine named Blink Blink one of the “Best STEM Toys for Kids.”
McDonald taught new media production and led the creation of a college-access website for (and built with) Native American and First Nations students with the Dartmouth Digital Arts and Leadership Lab. She was also named a Creative Technologist in Residence at the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Media Lab, where she spent a year building public installations that raised awareness about marginalized artists in the permanent collection.
Later, McDonald led a design research program at Facebook Inc. and advocated for privacy protections that were later adopted. She was a Senior Design Strategist for Verrah Inc. and helped various NYC and Pittsburgh-based technology companies make better products. In 2019, she was named one of the fourteen people shaping Pittsburgh’s technology environment. Most recently, she led the development of a large-scale inclusive technology-education curriculum and 3-week creative technology intensive through Duke University’s Co-Lab Makerspace.
McDonald has given talks internationally. Her work has been exhibited widely, including at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Dazed Beauty, Al Jazeera, Leaders in Software and Art, ACM Siggraph, Sketching in Hardware, Designing Interactive Systems, Inter/Access Vector Festival, HTMLles, and Revisius Textor.
CV
I’ve made a CV spreadsheet that you can find here.
Education
MS Human-Computer Interaction | Carnegie Mellon University, School of Computer Science, 2018
MFA Design and Technology | Parsons The New School for Design, 2015
BA Film Studies, University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2010
Core Tech Expertise Areas
Creative Coding (Processing, P5.js)
Physical Computing (microcontroller-based circuit building)
Fabrication Technologies (3D modeling + printing, laser cutter, designing and building large things)
Web Development (HTML, CSS, Javascript)
AI + Art (exploring Runway and Teachable Machine)
Teaching
[course development in-progress] Digital Intelligence: The Ethics of Emerging Technologies, The Duke Initiative for Science and Society, Spring 2021
Critical Making: Physical Computing, Duke University (on hold due to Covid-19)
Teaching Assistant | Human-Computer Interaction, Carnegie Mellon University 2018
Adjunct Faculty | MFA Design and Technology, Parsons the New School for Design 2014
Teaching Assistant | Art, Media, and Technology, Parsons the New School for Design 2014
Media Instructor | Native American Program, Dartmouth College 2011/2013
Experience
Program Designers and Lead STEM Curriculum Designer | NuVuX, 2022
Lead Faculty, Ethical Technology Program | The Duke Initiative for Science and Society, 2020
Senior Analyst, Co-Curricular Technology Education | Duke University, 2019 - 2020
Senior Design Strategist | Verrah Inc., 2018-2019
UI/ UX Design Researcher [graduate internship] | Facebook Inc., Summer 2018
Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer | Blink Blink Creative Circuit Kits, 2013 - 2015
Designer, Project Manager | Neukom Institute for Social Change and Dartmouth’s Digital Arts Program, 2013
Interim Director | Dartmouth College Native American Program and The Office of Pluralism and Leadership, 2012-2013
AmeriCorps VISTA | Dartmouth College Native American Program and The Office of Pluralism and Leadership, 2011 - 2012
Advisory Roles
Working Group Advisor, Center for Computational Thinking, Duke University, 2019 - 2020
Advisor, Cyber Policy and Gender Violence Initiative, Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy, 2020
Diversity and Inclusion Advisor, Innovation Co-Lab (maker-spaces), Duke University, 2019-2020
Code+ Instructor/Advisor, Leading a student team in design open-source volunteer matchmaking application, Duke University , summer 2020
Research Experience
eHeart Lab– Carnegie Mellon University, 2015/2019
gadgITERATION Lab – Parsons The New School for Design, 2013/2014
DEED Design Lab – Parsons The New School for Design, 2013/2014
Awards/Grants
Who's Next in Pittsburgh Technology: 14 People Shaping Pittsburgh’s Technology Scene, 2019
Randy Pausch Fellowship, CMU, 2018
Design Interactive Systems Provocation Award, 2018
Stuart Card Fellowship, CMU, 2017
GUSH Graduate Student Research Grant, CMU, 2016
Maker Faire Best in Class, 2015
Maker Faire Best Editor's Choice, 2015
4.0 Schools EdTech Incubator, 2015
Kickstarter – Successfully Funded $29,000, Blink Blink, 2015
New Challenge Grant for Social Change, Blink Blink, 2014
Neukom Institute Research Funding – DiscoverU, Dartmouth College, 2013
Wolfson Presidential Scholar - Full Merit Scholarship, 2013
Finalist Gates Foundation Grant – College Knowledge, Dartmouth College, 2012
Publications
McDonald, J., Zhao, S., Liu, J., & Rivera, M. L. (2018, May). MaxiFab: Applied Fabrication to Advance Period Technologies. In Proceedings of the 19th International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility (pp. 13-19). ACM.
To, A., McDonald, J., Holmes, J., Kaufman, G., & Hammer, J. (2018). Character Diversity in Digital and Non-Digital Games. Transactions of the Digital Games Research Association, 4(1).
McDonald, J., & Yi Messier, N. (2015, January). Input/Output: Paper Prototyping for the Future. In Proceedings of the Ninth International Conference on Tangible, Embedded, and Embodied Interaction (pp. 493-495). ACM.
Recent Press
Dazed Beauty, 3D Printed Nails - Featured Weekly Artist (Instagram)
Dazed Beauty, HOW BEAUTY IS BEING USED TO FIGHT BACK AGAINST FACIAL RECOGNITION AND CCTV
Der Tagesspiegel, Mother Nature Big Brother
Al Jazeera’s The Stream, Will Spy Tech Put An End to Protesting?
Presentations/Talks/Workshops
DIY Surveillance Resistance Workshop, MozFest 2021
Memes, “what are those!?” - Lecture for Duke University Googlization of Information course, November 2020
Resistance in the Age of Surveillance - Artist Talk and Surveillance Resistance Techniques Workshop, Inter/Access Vector Festival, July 2020
Co-Lab @ Home (Else - Ware): 3 week creative technology (intensive) program for Duke Community, April, 2020.
Technology and Performance Artist Workshop, Duke University, Feb 2020
Sewable Circuits Artist Workshop, Duke University, Feb 2020
Micro-controller Artist Workshop, Duke University, January 2020
Sketching in Hardware, Detroit MI, 2019
University of Mary Washington, Artist Talk, 2019
No School Nevers, Artist Talk, 2019
Processing Day, Artist Talk, 2019
University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: Youth Health Conference, 2018
Parsons Design and Technology MFA Symposium Keynote, 2018
Visions International Film Festival, 2019
Designing Interactive Systems Conference, 2018
Tangible, Embedded, Interaction Conference, 2015
Dartmouth Workshop in the Woods, 2015
Leaders in Software and Art, Artist Talk, 2015
Exhibitions
2020
MotherProtectMe - video series, HTMlles Exhibition in partnership with Labo NT2, Montreal, Canada - launches November, 2020 (Now Live - click left-side of website to see my video series)
Carnival Digital: Mother_Protect_Me, June, 2020.
Apocalypse is Now, Wearable Technologies Exhibition, Affective Prospecting: In Times of Pandemia, Media Lab UNB,
Mother_Protect_Me: Floral Makeup to Undermine Facial Recognition, DIGITAL POWER, Activism, Advocacy, and the Influence of Women Online Exhibition. ACM Siggraph.
Apocalypse is Now, White Page Gallery, Solo Exhibit, URL
2019
Introduction to FemmeTech, Sketching in Hardware, Detroit MI
MiniTaime [2019] No School Nevers X Ravisius Textor NO SHOW, Nevers France
MOTHERBOARD [2019] No School Nevers X Ravisius Textor NO SHOW, Nevers France
2018
The Time Machine: AI & Automation, Carnegie Mellon University, 2018
2017
Sueños de Cuba [film], Pittsburgh Filmmakers, PittsburghFilmmakers / Pittsburgh Center for the Arts Program
Sueños de Cuba [film], Hiding in Plain Sight, a pedal-powered pop-up movie theater
2015
Met Media Lab Exhibition, Metropolitan Museum of Art
Ghost in the Codec, Virginia Tech University
Dartmouth Workshop in the Woods
2014
Crystalline Highlands, Come out and Play NYC
Joselyn McDonald CEO, Youtube Livestream
2013
Celebrate CHARAS Interactive Documentary Installation, LES NYC
2011
Latrinalia [film], Cucalorus Film Festival
Visions International Film Festival
Groups / Organizations / Volunteer
There Will Be Blood, Period Technologies Hackathon, 2020
HCI Design [Founder], 2016-2018
FemTech [Founder], Parsons the New School for Design, 2013-2015
The New School Presidential Advisory Board, 2014-2015