External links
- Julie A. Kientz publications indexed by Google Scholar
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Julie A. Kientz | |
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| Born | Marion, Ohio, US |
| Spouse | Shwetak Patel |
| Academic background | |
| Education | B.S., Computer Science & Engineering, 2002, University of Toledo PhD, Computer Science, 2008, Georgia Tech |
| Thesis | Decision support for caregivers through embedded capture and access (2008) |
| Doctoral advisor | Gregory Abowd |
| Academic work | |
| Institutions | University of Washington |
| Website | juliekientz |
Julie Anne Kientz is an American computer scientist. Kientz is a full professor in the University of Washington's Department of Human Centered Design &Engineering. [1]
Kientz was born to Tom and Carol in Marion,Ohio,US [2] on May 9,1980. [3] While attending River Valley High School in the 1990s,she won the Johnny Clearwater Award at the State Science Day. [4] She originally intended to pursue a career in veterinary medicine but changed her path after fainting while watching a dog undergoing surgery. [5] In her senior year,Kientz began taking courses at Ohio State University at Marion through the Post Secondary Enrollment Option. [6]
Upon graduating high school,Kientz enrolled in the computer science engineering department at the University of Toledo. In her senior year,she was one of 12 students selected to participate in a summer research program at the University of California,Berkeley. [7] Following her undergraduate degree,Kientz attended Georgia Tech for her Ph.D. in Computer Science. [2] While there,she was inspired by her advisor Gregory Abowd to investigate technology that could improve the care of children with autism. Prior to creating software or technology,she trained to be a therapist for autistic children and worked as one for a year and a half. In this role,she co-built a prototype called Lullaby to replace the lab exams measuring reaction times. [8] Later,her co-authored paper on Lullaby received the 2012 Best Paper Award from the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM). [9] Kientz also developed Fetch,a software program that could run on cell phones to help its users locate items. [10]
Upon completing her PhD,Kientz accepted an assistant professor position jointly in the Human Centered Design &Engineering (HCDE) and the Information School Departments at the University of Washington. [11] In this role,she established the Computing for Healthy Living and Learning (CHiLL) Laboratory in 2009 to use "User-Centered Design processes to determine if technology performs as expected in a real-world environment." [12] As director of the CHiLL Laboratory,Kientz developed Baby Steps to "transform developmental tracking into one of celebrating children’s achievements." [13] During the same year,she was also awarded a National Science Foundation CAREER Award to "design,develop,and evaluate the effectiveness of computing interventions to assist parents in ensuring the healthy development of their child." [14]
Kientz eventually joined the HCDE Department full-time in 2012 while continuing to direct the CHiLL Laboratory. [11] As a full member of the faculty,she received an $80,000 Hartwell Innovation Award for her project "Innovative Smartphone Application of a New Behavioral Method to Quit Smoking:Development &Usability Testing." [15] By August 2013,Kientz was recognized by MIT Technology Review as one of their 35 innovators under the age of 35. [16] In the same month,she was also selected to receive a Google Faculty Research Award for her project "How Long Should my Study Run For?' Understanding the Effect of Study Duration on User Feedback and Data Saturation." [17] As a result of her academic accomplishments,Kientz was promoted from assistant professor to associate professor. [18] While serving in her new role as an associate professor,Kientz co-authored a study that demonstrated that period-tracking smartphone apps lacked accuracy,made assumptions about sexual identity or partners,and over-emphasized pink and flowery form over function and customization. [19]
Near the conclusion of the 2018–19 academic year,Kientz was promoted to the rank of full professor in HCDE. [20] During the COVID-19 pandemic,Kientz was promoted from Interim Chair to full Chair of the Department by the Dean of the College of Engineering,Nancy Allbritton. [21] In her new role,she co-established the Kientz &Patel HCDE Student Emergency Support Fund to aid HCDE students facing financial hardship due to the pandemic. [22] Kientz also became the Principal investigator on a grant supported by the NSF to study the pandemic's effect on family life and the role of technology. [23] In May 2020,Kientz co-published the second edition book of Interactive Technologies and Autism. [24] At the conclusion of the year,she was named an ACM Distinguished Member for outstanding scientific contributions to computing. [25]
Kientz is married to Shwetak Patel,who is also a faculty member at the University of Washington,and lives in Seattle,Washington. [26]
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