Catie Jo Pidel

Currently working in web and mobile development using Polymer, HTML/CSS, and Unity. My work allows me to work closely with designers, marketers, and business analysts to conceptualize and rapidly prototype new ideas. Since this is my second internship at GoKart Labs, I have been given much more responsibility this time around, and am often the sole developer on my projects.

Explored the applications of augmented reality in architecture. I built 2 different mobile applications using Unity and Google Tango in the Visual Computing Lab. My responsibilities included designing and implementing functionality, as well as project management (planning and scoping features) and testing.

Worked on business strategy, user research, human-centered design, branding, and Ruby on Rails development. I work on projects across multiple teams for outside clients in the education and healthcare sectors, as well as designing and building an internal website using Google Polymer.

I did user interface design and implementation for two internal tools, working mostly in Java, HTML5
(Javascript + CSS), and Python. My work was mostly confidential, but I implemented 2 new features according to Google’s material design principles, created metrics for measuring their usage, and designed logos for a number internal tools.

Toy Product Design is a hands-on, team- and project-based, design course with a focus on designing for play. Being a teaching specialist included mentoring a group of 7 students from initial brainstorming to providing engineering and design guidance on the final, working prototype. This experience taught me how to navigate the intricacies of group dynamics in a leadership role.

I have been responsible for designing and implementing a new firmware documentation process, analyzing existing firmware tests for holes and redundancies, creating and teaching a curriculum for transitioning multiple R&D teams over to a new set of version control tools, and writing tests for online applications using Python and a REST API. These experiences have allowed me to work in cross-functional teams, take leadership roles, learn through hands-on coding experience, and become comfortable in preparing and giving technical presentations to a wide range of audiences.

I facilitate creativity and idea generation for a team of 8 students taking the course, "Creativity, Idea Generation, & Innovation" at the University of Minnesota.

I spent the summers of 2011 and 2012 working with 4th through 8th grade orchestra students. I learned classroom management and, by extension, leadership skills that allow me to work in fast-paced and often unpredictable environments.