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{Home > About > Centers & Programs > IAP > Fellowships : Wendy Winn}

Wendy Winn

Wendy Winn is a Ph.D. Student in the Rhetoric Department. She was the Medtronic Fellowship winner for 2000.

Q: What sort of research did you do with Medtronic?

Wendy: Well, Medtronic is converting all their documents to have everything online. They're trying to get rid of paper documentation because it's expensive and hard to maintain, whereas with online, once you update it one place, it's updated everywhere, like the ripple effect. Then the whole idea is "what should these online documents look like." We have a format for paper, but that is probably not the most effective way to present something online. We have the whole linking capability online, which is a big difference. so I did research and looked at human computer interaction literature, and communication literature, and usability studies, to see what would work, and to see what people were proposing for an online format.

Q: How did your research interact with your academic research?

Wendy: Actually, it did perfectly. I was taking an HCI class last spring, and I had to do a project, so the project I did for Medtronic, I did for that class. I was looking at the HCI literature anyway, and it dovetailed nicely. For me, the reason I'm in a ph.d. program is this whole idea of the theory to practice, and the feedback loop. I just think that practice can't exist without theory and theory can't exist without practice. They each benefit greatly from the other. So when I learn about a new theory, I wonder how we can put the theory into practice, and vice versa. Especially for design - my big thing is to understand design, and to find theories that explain the design, and to better understand the persuasive properties and the application of design.

Q: How did you hear about applying to the fellowships?

Wendy: Actually, I felt that I was at a bit of a disadvantage since I wasn't on campus yet. It was a year ago, last spring, and I was in South Carolina. All I had was the piece of paper about the fellowships to read and get a sense of how my interests could fit. I had already done a couple research projects, and I was just finishing one. I mostly talked about my experience with research and this whole idea of the theory to practice connection, and finding real life problems to solve, and using theory to solve the problems. It was a pretty general application, but with my experience and previous research it helped in getting the fellowship.

Q: Did you propose what you were going to do?

Wendy: No, actually I wrote the proposal after I had met with them, and I met with them to try to find a match that would benefit both of us. Something that they could use, and that would help me too. They were really great to work with and we came up with a great project.

I was going in the right direction, but I wasn't that specific in my proposal because I wasn't sure what to emphasize in the fellowship. After we met, we worked out the rest of the details.

Q: What sort of details did you have with the Fellowship Program and the Industrial Affiliates?

Wendy: I think it's a great opportunity to get your foot in the door. See, I never worked in the industry before; I had always been in academia in technical writing jobs. I want to go to work in industry when I get done, so I need the experience. This was really good because you're not overwhelmed. You meet with one person to narrow down what you'll be doing, and then you meet periodically and talk, and so on. It was valuable for me because I didn't have industry experience before. I have contacts in industry, and I know I'm on the right track - what I'm studying and working on, they find valuable. Now I know how to market myself, because I know that what I'm working on is something they can use.

Q: Would you recommend the fellowship to other grad students?

Wendy: Absolutely. It's a great experience, and I can speak from my internship with Veritas this last summer. They were really big on me producing something that I can show as my work, and they would have something of value that I did for them. I would absolutely recommend the fellowships, because the Affiliates are very good to work with, they're flexible, and they have a respect for your knowledge and the theory you bring to it. I think it's a good experience.