Herminio Bodon

Herminio Bodon

PhD student in tiilt Lab

Hola! :D (//website under construction//)

I am a third-year PhD student in Technology and Social Behavior, a joint program in Computer Science and Communication at Northwestern University. My doctoral research focuses on supporting learning among youth leveraging theoretical frameworks, methods, and tools from Human-Computer Interaction and Learning Sciences. I work with Marcelo Worsley in the Technological Innovations for Inclusive Learning and Teaching Laboratory (tiilt lab).

In the past, I worked on social computing and collective intelligence. I empirically studied technological tools and their different dimensions within social context. Before entering Northwestern University, I earned a BS in Liberal Arts and an MS in Information Science. For more information see my CV, or please send me an email at bodon[at]u.northwestern.edu.

Research Interests

*Learning (kws: Design of Learning Environments; Identifying and Characterizing Learning; Computional Thinking; Data Literacy)
*Technology (kws: AI/ML; Wearable Technologies; Prototyping Tools)
*Society (kws: Governance; Technology Ecosystem)

Internship for 2023

I am actively seeking internship positions for 2023. Please contact me with opportunities at bodon[at]u.northwestern.edu.

News

*Attended a Machine Learning Summer School at Oxford University
*Completed CS qual. Special thanks to my committee: Nichole Pinkard, Josiah Hester, and Marcelo Worsley.

Publications

  • Bodon, Herminio, Vishesh Kumar, and Marcelo Worsley. 2022. Youth Experiences with Authentically Embedded Computer Science in Sport. In Interaction Design and Children (IDC ’22), June 27–30, 2022, Braga, Portugal. ACM.
  • Bodon, Herminio; Butler M; Kumar V; Worsley, M; Threads of Possibility: Diverse Youth Designers, Soft Robotics, and Sports Wearables. CHI 2022 Workshop on Actuated Materials and Soft Robotics Strategies for Human-Computer Interaction Design. 2022.
  • Abhari, R., Vincent, N., Dambanemuya, H. K., Bodon, H., & Horvát, E. Á. (2022). Twitter Engagement with Retracted Articles: Who, When, and How?. arXiv preprint arXiv:2203.04228.
  • Platt, Edward; Bodon, Herminio; Romero, Daniel. (2019). Harnessing Diversity in Large Groups: An Agent-Based Model. ACM CSCW 2019.
  • Bodon, Herminio; Bustamante, Pedro; Gomez, Marcela; Krishnamurthy, Prashant; et al. (2019). Ostrom amongst the Machines: Blockchain as a Knowledge Commons. Cosmos + Taxis in 2020.
  • Gomez, Marcela; Bustamante, Pedro; Weiss, Martin; Bodon, Herminio; et al. (2019). Is Blockchain the Next Step in the Evolution Chain of Brokers? TPRC47.
  • Sanchez, Chelsea; Franjione, Paige; Parker, Jalin; Brinner, Zachery; Bodon, Herminio; Bahm, Cristina. (2018). Understanding Landmarks in Spatial Information: Using Sentiment to Provide Context. iConference 2019.

Presentations

*Youth experiences with authentically embedded CS in sports spaces. Date: May 2022
*Invited talk at the University of Puerto Rico on sports as a sustainable approach to CS ed. Date: May 2022

Awards & Fellowships

  • Statistical Award ($2,000) to attend ML Summer School, Northwestern University, 2022
  • Commonwealth Fellowship ($82,000/ 2 yrs), University of Pittsburgh, 2018-2020
  • GSPIA Merit Scholarship & Carl Ware Scholar ($26,000/ 1 yr), Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, 2019
  • SoNIC Fellow, Cornell University, 2019
  • Puerto Ricans National Youth Leadership Encuentro, Center for Puerto Rican Studies, 2019
  • Ford Foundation Sponsored attendance to 2019 Modeling the World’s Systems conference, 2019
  • i3 Fellowship, iSchool Inclusion Institute, 2018
  • BETA Scholar, Puerto Rico Education Council, 2017
  • HACU Sponsored Scholar to 31st HACU Annual Conference, Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, 2017

Teaching

I enjoy making computing accessible to all. I recently worked as a teaching assistant at the 2022 Ponce Hackaton, an intro to hackathons with novice programmers! Before Northwestern, I worked with youth to teach them about computing and computational thinking at the Grayson Center in the Hill District and taught tech skills to the elderly at Pittsburgh’s Community Engagement Center in Homewood.

Community Service

My community work focuses on spreading awareness about what computing technologies enable us to do and promoting critical thinking about their pitfalls and associated effects. I partner with community organizations interested in CS education and to seek to adopt technology to improve their processes. I have current collaborations with partners in Puerto Rico and Chicago. Previous work includes advising underrepresented students on computing careers through virtual and in-person interactions, visiting public schools to present the basics of CS, and assisting a medical facility in upgrading its electronic records system.

Policy

I spent a year studying governance at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs in Pittsburgh. During that period I published a couple of papers on underlying governance mechanisms in blockchain technologies. Additionally, I reviewed proposals for interventions at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration during an internship.

Entrepreneurship

I am currently building borinquen.ai at The Garage. We are trying solve problems in sports, learning, and health.

Personal

I was born and raised in southern Puerto Rico. I enjoy most outdoor activities and sports –currently doing a lot of surfing and basketball.