Leah Pistorius
September 10, 2026
The Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering (HCDE) is pleased to welcome Samantha Speer as an assistant teaching professor beginning in the 2026–2027 academic year.
Samantha Speer as an incoming assistant teaching professor in the University of Washington's Department of Human Centered Design & Engineering.
Dr. Speer joins HCDE as an educator and researcher dedicated to designing, creating, and improving physical and digital technologies for interdisciplinary, collaborative learning. Her research explores how robotics can shape human experiences and support the development of skills such as collaboration and emotional regulation.
In the classroom, Speer emphasizes hands-on, project-based learning that brings together students from different disciplines to work on meaningful, real-world challenges. During her first year in HCDE, she will teach HCDE 518: User-Centered Design and HCDE 439: Physical Computing and Prototyping.
Speer is also interested in developing new opportunities for students to explore human-centered robotics, including a potential future course in the area. Beyond the classroom, she hopes to contribute to HCDE’s K–12 outreach efforts and other programs that introduce students to human-centered design and engineering.
Speer earned her PhD and MS from the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University and her BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering, also from Carnegie Mellon.
Join us in welcoming Samantha Speer to the HCDE community!