Bio
I am a 6th year student in the Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University; I am advised by Illah Nourbakhsh and am a member of the CREATE lab. I received a BS in Electrical Engineering and Public Policy from CMU in 2003 and an M.S. in Robotics from the Robotics Institute in 2006.
I live in Pittsburgh, PA with my wonderful wife Krissie, who is currently involved in expanding our family to three. I used to live in California, and I willingly chose to live in (and prefer) the climate of western Pennsylvania. Being from a notoriously gray and rainy country (Belgium) may have something to do with that choice.
Research Interests
My work focuses on using applications of robotic technologies to positively impact motivation and learning in science and technology education. I am pursuing a methodology for an integrative design which incorporates not just the constraints of cost and technology, but also considers the needs of curricula and educators. I believe that to develop effective educational technologies, one must first identify the key concepts taught in the course for which the technology is being developed, and then map those concepts to interactions that can be provided by technology. By doing so, one can use the existing curriculum to feed into the design decisions for which technological features to include or dismiss.
Contact Information
Email: tlauwers at andrew dot cmu dot edu
Phone: 412-268-6723
Office: CIC 430
RI Website: http://www.ri.cmu.edu/person.html?person_id=1276