The IAC helps to keep the curriculum up-to-date to maintain program goals and competencies. To do this, members of the committee are asked to weigh in on and vote to support or reject any proposed changes to the UX program.

View the committee bylaws.

2023–24 Members

The UX IAC is comprised of industry professionals, MSOE UX faculty and students. The membership reflects a balance of high-tech, finance, retail, consulting and start-up companies that are located locally, nationally and internationally.

Community Members

Ash Dzick

Ash is a data-driven professional who excels in managing UX teams with a focus on strategic leadership and persona-driven design. She harbors a deep passion for mentorship, leading several committees dedicated to fostering the next generation of UX. Ash chairs the Industrial Advisory Committee for Milwaukee School of Engineering and works as a Senior Manager of User Experience for Molson Coors.

Elise Georgeson

Elise brings over 15 years of award-winning digital experience with a focus on product and experiential design. In 2021, she co-founded Lyssna Method, a leading UX consultancy. As an active member of the Women's Business Enterprise National Council (WEBEC) and having collaborated with clients such as SAP, MTV, Adobe, NFL and BlueCross, her approach to creating exceptional user experiences involves attentive listening, data analysis and user feedback to inform outcomes that align seamlessly with each business. Elise holds certifications from Nielsen Norman Group (NN/g) and serves as an adjunct professor at UW-Parkside, showcasing her dedication to excellence in the field of user experience design.

Kristine Howell

Kristine is a seasoned senior user experience strategist with over two decades of industry experience. In 2021, she co-founded Lyssna Method, a leading UX consultancy. As an active member of the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WEBEC), Kristine specializes in elevating user experiences not only in healthcare but also across diverse sectors including manufacturing, ecommerce, non-profit and government. Collaborating closely with esteemed institutions such as Children’s Wisconsin, Kristine utilizes design-led practices to create impactful and user-centered solutions in various domains. She graduated with honors, holding a bachelor's degree in fine art and design from UW-Milwaukee. Additionally, Kristine is certified in UX by Nielsen Norman Group and has earned a UX strategy accreditation from Jamie Levy.

Anna Janusz

Anna’s creative work started in communications and has spanned advertising agencies, digital agencies, a software lab and now corporate technology. Currently, Anna is a senior manager in IT at Generac where she works closely with the business groups to ensure technology is working hard to solve their business challenges in the best way. She consults on many projects to advocate for the user and assist with journey mapping, test theories for use cases and help with planning/strategy for execution. Anna is passionate about her community, serving as vice president of her school board and president of her local soccer club. She's a writer and storyteller at heart and loves reading, dogs, coffee and cheering for her three children in all they do.

Kevin Kahler

Kevin is a people-focused and quality-driven design leader with a wealth of experience crafting user-centered solutions in both corporate and agency environments across Metro Milwaukee. He enjoys leading teams that research, plan, and design end-to-end experiences, empowering users through intuitive, delightful, and human-centric design. Currently serving as a UX Manager at Generac, Kevin leads a team of UX practitioners focused on mobile and web applications, enabling Generac customers and dealers to remotely monitor and manage their home energy products.

Marie Kieckbusch

Marie leads a team of UX Designers and UX Researchers at Northwestern Mutual where she specializes in usability and design strategy.  For 15+ years she has been designing and developing digital products.  Her expertise lay in visual design, user-centered design methodology, psychology of user behaviors, UX research and usability testing. She has a love for learning, a BA in Communications & Business from St. Norbert College as well as multiple Design, Development, Usability and Accessibility Certifications.

Mike Kornacki

Mike is a seasoned UX veteran with over 25 years’ experience in the design and user experience disciplines. He became a Certified Usability Analyst (CUA) in 2003 and received his master’s degree in User Experience Design in 2017 from Kent State University. Mike has been invited to speak at many local and national design conferences including UX+ Madison, UXCAMP Chicago, and Design Thinking Austin, to name a few. Mike has built UX Design teams in 4 different companies from the ground up. Currently he is the Director of User Experience Design at PKWARE, Inc. where he runs a small team that oversees designing the next generation of experiences for the data security world.

Amii LaPointe

Amii is a teacher at heart and believes that the world can be a better place through user experience design. She uses her 20+ years of usability experience as a practitioner and leader to mentor and share knowledge with her students as an assistant professor of UX at MSOE. In addition, she co-chairs of the MSOE UX Industrial Advisory Committee (IAC) where she assists Ash Dzick, IAC chair, to build relationships with industry that help to guide curriculum development and program strategy. Amii holds a M.S. in Technical Communication Management from Mercer University and a B.S. in Technical Communication from the University of Washington.

Cindy Miller

Cindy is the owner of a Human Factors Engineering consultancy where she works in both the digital and physical space for a diverse range of industries. With over 15 years of experience, Cindy works in areas of usability testing, UX strategy, UX research and UX design. Cindy has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from Milwaukee School of Engineering, and an M.A. and Ph.D. in Human Factors from Wichita State University. 

Joe Poeschl

Joe is the program director and co-founder of The Commons, an initiative of The Greater Milwaukee Committee. Joe has facilitated hundreds of learning and growth experiences for thousands of students, professionals, entrepreneurs and innovators of all backgrounds and disciplines. Prior to The Commons, Joe founded a startup studio where he led the product design and business strategy for web startups across the country.

Corey Poquette

Corey is the UX director for the Software and Control organization at Rockwell Automation. He leads a global team of more than 40 UX professionals. He found his passion for design and research at his prior company, Johnson Controls, where he spent 13 amazing years amongst great friends, learning the discipline and specializing in information architecture, design leadership, research and strategy. He is most at home collaborating with a group, tackling ambiguity and complexity, and where a design thinking mindset is shared by those partnering on the challenge.

Kat Richards

Kat Richards (she/her) is a systems thinker that has a passion for collaboration between business strategy, technology and CX. She has over a decade of experience spanning from consumer goods, tourism to B2B, healthcare and financial industries, working from interactive design, UX and product, to experience strategy and design operations. As an associate director of experience strategy at Digitas, Kat creates human-centered solutions that challenge the status quo and inequities.

Michael Seidel 

Michael is a Milwaukee-based design leader and mentor with more than 15 years of experience in the field. He has spent his career building strategic design disciplines for organizations within a diverse range of industries, with a focus on healthcare in recent years. Michael strongly believes that collaboration and curiosity are the cornerstones of successful design.

Jade Stewart

Jade is a customer-focused product manager based in Chicago, Illinois. Joining RSVPify in its early growth phase, Jade has grown with the company to its current position as a leading event management software solution. Jade shows a particular focus and commitment to innovation, with a deep understanding of user needs. Jade continues to shape RSVPify's trajectory, ensuring that the product remains at the forefront of software solutions in the industry. Jade has pursued further education by participating in Reforge's Growth Series, enhancing her expertise in driving product growth strategies. 

Chelsea Wanta

Chelsea is the director of usability/human factors engineering at GE HealthCare. In this role, she leads a global team of usability/human factors engineers as part of GE HealthCare’s Experience Design organization, working across the GE HealthCare portfolio of products. The team helps optimize the quality of interaction between people and healthcare products as well as informs and evaluates design of user interfaces to ensure they are safe, effective and deliver a good user experience. Chelsea holds a bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering and a master’s degree in human factors and ergonomics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Student Members

Olivia Eldridge 

Olivia is currently a junior at MSOE studying for her B.S. in User Experience. She is knowledgeable in the Adobe Creative Cloud, UX principles of research, interface design and visual design. Olivia is also certified in Microsoft Excel and the Dale Carnegie Leadership Training course. She is very excited to be joining and participating in the IAC for the first time.

Will Heffernan

William is a sophomore User Experience major studying at MSOE. He currently manages the Gene Carter User Experience Lab, and utilizes his strong drive for problem solving to improve the overall UX student experience on campus. Will seeks to provide his skills in User Experience to develop a more optimized and accessible future, and is excited to join the team this fall 2024.

Faculty/Staff Members

Dr. Alicia Domack

Alicia is the chair of the Humanities, Social Science, and Communications department, which houses the User Experience & Communication Design program at MSOE. She is also an Associate Professor. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Psychology and a Master of Arts in School Psychology from the University of Nebraska and Bachelor of Science in Psychology from University of Wisconsin, Madison.

Dr. Nadya Shalamova

Nadya is the User Experience & Communication Design Program Director and an Associate Professor at MSOE. She holds a Doctor of Philosophy, Rhetoric & Professional Communication from New Mexico State University, M. Phil., Post-Graduate Degree in Descriptive Linguistics from Mari State University (Yoshkar-Ola, Russia), and a Master of Arts, Graduate Degree in Teaching English and German as a Foreign Language from Tomsk State Pedagogical University (Tomsk, Russia). MSOE alum!