Our team
Hang “Christina” Yin
Producer
Christina is a storyteller fueled by a deep curiosity about our shared human history. She earned her Bachelor’s degree in Film and TV from Boston University and spent two years learning the business side of Hollywood before joining the ETC. Through her work, she hopes to inspire people to live more fully in the moment and to build deeper connections—with each other and with the world around them—by designing experiences that blend creativity, artful communication, and user-focused technology.
Boxuan “Alex” Li
Programmer
Alex earned his bachelor’s degree in Software Engineering from Nanjing University. He enjoys playing video games and now hopes to create one of his own at ETC.
Eunyoung “Alivia” Park
Artist
Alivia has a background in informatics, where she built a strong foundation in UX research and project management. She enjoys exploring creative technologies and blending art with her technical skills in computer graphics, which she brings to her role as a technical artist at ETC. She is interested in crafting immersive, interactive experiences with captivating visuals. Outside of work, she loves film and photography, which continue to inspire her creative approach.
Xingyu “Oliver” Zhu
Sound Designer
Oliver is a game designer, sound designer, and programmer in the entertainment industry. With his undergraduate background in Interactive Media Arts, he is passionate about creating game narrative and game world. Also, he loves creating immersive soundtracks for games.
Grace M. Rodríguez Gómez
Programmer
Grace is a creator with a passion to combine code with art to craft engaging visual stories, games, and films. She loves exploring mixing digital media with traditional art. She has over four years of experience in software development, and multiple years of drawing 2D and traditional. She is looking for more opportunities as a technical artist in the entertainment industry, where she can use her expertise in the ever-evolving landscape of immersive and visual storytelling. In her free time, she likes to play video games and board games, watch sci-fi and fantasy media, explore the city, bike, go to the beach, and paint landscapes.
Hazel Li
Artist
Hazel is a 3D artist and creative technologist focused on building immersive visual worlds through real-time media and interactive systems. Her work explores the intersection of spatial design, storytelling, and emerging technologies, combining artistic vision with technical precision. Beyond digital media, her artistic practice also extends to photography and painting.
Our Advisors & Subject Matter Experts
John Dessler
Faculty Advisor
John is a special faculty member at Carnegie Mellon University’s Entertainment Technology Center, where he teaches courses in visual storytelling, VR story and sound, location-based entertainment, UI/UX design and digital art and design. With a multifaceted background as a creative director, programmer, writer, entrepreneur, musician, performer and visual artist, John brings a rich blend of creativity and technical expertise to his teaching.
John has worked with major companies such as GE, NBC, Tyco, Heinz and various museums and productions, specializing in visual communication and digital training. He served as creative director for Creative Services at the ETC, where he developed virtual interviews, games, exhibits and interactive experiences for clients including Duquesne University and the National Civil War Museum. In 1996, he founded The Outlet for Creativity, Inc., a nonprofit dedicated to fostering the arts, where he served as president for nine years.
A published playwright and award-winning creative, John’s accolades include the Keystone Press and Telly awards. He is also an accomplished musician, regularly performing at venues such as the Bluebird Café in Nashville, Tennessee. John has been a featured speaker, performer and juror at renowned conferences including SIGGRAPH, GDC and SXSW, inspiring students and professionals alike with his interdisciplinary approach to innovation and storytelling.
John Dessler joined the ETC in 2005.
Moshe Mahler
Faculty Consultant
Moshe is an award-winning professional innovator and storyteller whose work has been featured in attractions at Disney Parks and Resorts and shown worldwide at prestigious venues, including SIGGRAPH, UIST, Comic Con, and Ars Electronica.
For nearly a decade, Mahler led The Creative Technology Team at Disney Research of The Walt Disney Company, where he served as the Principal Artist. Under his supervision, the team worked hand in hand with elite Research Scientists to invent and utilize new technologies across the Walt Disney Company, collaborating with Pixar, Walt Disney Animation Studios, Disney Consumer Products, Disney Television Animation, Imagineering, and more.
Mahler has authored more than 10 technical paper publications at premiere conferences and is an inventor of four issued patents. He has also contributed to dozens of publications in the computer graphics and animation fields. Mahler’s artworks and animated films have been featured in a number of venues internationally, including SIGGRAPH 2005, 2007, 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2017. Most recently, Mahler’s animated short film, The Art of Weightlessness, won Best in Show at SIGGRAPH 2024 and has qualified for an Academy Award.
Moshe Mahler joined the ETC in 2019.
Matthew Walsh
Subject Matter Expert
Matthew is a Senior Data Scientist within the CERT Division of the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI). His research centers on leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance cybersecurity and to enable new capabilities.
Among his recent undertakings, Matthew has applied machine learning (ML) to deepfake detection, he has used ML to create in-depth defenses against advanced persistent threats, and he has developed ML algorithms to extract actionable intelligence from data captured via cyber-physical systems.
Matthew earned a Ph.D. in Cognitive Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University, and a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the Pennsylvania State University.
Dominic Ross
Subject Matter Expert
Dominic is an Autonomy Engineer within the Artificial Intelligence Division of the Carnegie Mellon University Software Engineering Institute (SEI). His work focuses on reinforcement learning, autonomy experimentation, and digital twin environments for training and applied research.
Among his recent efforts, Dominic has supported the development of reinforcement learning environments for maritime and aerial systems, explored synthetic data generation and volumetric rendering techniques for digital twin reconstruction, and contributed to research in generative AI and media forensics.
Dominic earned a Master of Science in Software Management from Carnegie Mellon University and a bachelor’s degree in Media Arts from Pennsylvania Western University Edinboro.