My demo booth at UIST
By Hannah Twigg-Smith
November 2022
In October I traveled to the 2022 ACM Symposium on User Interface Software and Technology (UIST) in Bend, Oregon. I went with three of my labmates (Blair, Danli, and Jasper) and a fellow PhD student from CSE (Chu). Blair, Danli and I were showing our work at the UIST demo session, which meant that we drove from Seattle to Bend in a car jammed full of five people and three small machines.
Due to the pandemic, this was the first in-person conference I have attended where I was able to present my own work. I demonstrated my software development framework, Dynamic Toolchains, which lets developers connect reusable widgets together into programs for niche digital fabrication workflows.
Maps plotted with my system during the demonstration session!
I showed an example toolchain for creating maps with an AxiDraw plotter, which is a small machine that can draw with pens. I took map requests from demo attendees, and was able to give some away to take home!
I had a lot of fun talking with people during the demo session, and I received many wonderful and thought-provoking questions. This is something that I've felt I've missed out on over the past two and a half years of remote conferences. In addition to meeting lots of new people, I was able to reconnect with a former HCDE undergrad in my lab (Willa Yang, who is now a PhD student at the University of Chicago) and see her give her first conference talk! Overall, our journey to UIST was a success and makes me excited for future conference adventures.
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The Mary B. Coney Endowed Fund, named in honor of Emeritus Professor Mary Coney, supports HCDE students by funding costs associated with travel to conferences and international workshops. Your support of this fund enriches the HCDE student experience and enhances HCDE's influence in the field.