Polypilot product mascot

Introducing PolyPilot:

Our AI-Powered Mentorship Program

Learn More
profile picture

Thomas O

- Research Program Mentor

MS candidate at Georgia Institute of Technology

Expertise

human-computer interaction, music & music technology, healthcare technology, digital health equity

Bio

If my history and profile seem all over the place, that's because they are. I have spent the last 10 years trying to figure out what I want to do and who I want to be, and I do not regret one moment. I am currently pursuing an interdisciplinary degree that exposes me to UX Research and Design, Music Technology, Psychology, and Ethnography. I am so excited to share the variety of things I have learned from the worlds of Business, Healthcare, Technology, and Psychology with my mentees. I am currently the TA for a CS course entitled, "Digital Health Equity", which has allowed me to mentor exciting technological ideas that address health disparities across the variety of populations in our country. I am an avid music explorer and listener, and I spend much of my time curating playlists and learning more about my favorite artists and genres. My research interests are vast - at Epic, I conducted heavy user research into the Care Management and Population Health software, and I led development for their Community Resource Directory software. At Georgia Tech, I have been involved with research for assistive technology for the visually impaired, workplace conflict resolution tools, interactive environments, music festival technology, and music ethnographies. I am excited to dedicate my Master's thesis project to community moderation for Web3 musical communities.

Project ideas

Project ideas are meant to help inspire student thinking about their own project. Students are in the driver seat of their research and are free to use any or none of the ideas shared by their mentors.

Personalized Music Therapy

Our favorite streaming services use wealths of data to predict, suggest, and present music to us that we may be interested in. Even if these services know the music we use for our 'self-care' playlists, would a behavioral health specialist agree with what we listen to? This project would require establishing the impact music can have on mental health, and how a technology could be designed to support this impact while maintaining clinical expectations of good health and privacy.

Coding skills

R

Languages I know

Spanish, basic

Teaching experience

I was a TA in undergrad for 2 years and am currently a TA. While working for 3 years, I served as a new hire mentor to 3 employees and directly managed a different 3 employees on my project.

Credentials

Work experience

Epic Systems (2018 - 2021)
Project Manager
Sofar Sounds (2016 - 2021)
City Lead
Universal Music Group (2022 - Current)
User Enablement Intern

Education

University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC)
BS Bachelor of Science
Business Process Management and Information Systems/Information Technology, Psychology minor
Georgia Institute of Technology
MS Master of Science candidate
Human-Computer Interaction

Interested in working with expert mentors like Thomas?

Apply now