CV

EDUCATION

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Ph.D., Digital Media, 2023
Advisor: Brian Magerko
Doctoral Dissertation: “Designing Controllers for Collaborative Play”
Doctoral Minor in Music Technology

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
M.S., Digital Media, 2021
Advisor: Brian Magerko

DREXEL UNIVERSITY
B.S., Game Design and Production, 2019
Minor in Music Theory and Composition

APPOINTMENTS & EMPLOYMENT

NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Newark, NJ
August 2024 – present
Assistant Professor, Department of Informatics

YALE UNIVERSITY, New Haven, CT
August 2023 – July 2024
Postdoctoral Research Associate, XR Pediatrics
Jointly funded with Drexel University’s Entrepreneurial Game Studio

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Atlanta, GA
August 2022 – May 2023
Graduate Research Assistant at Expressive Machinery Lab

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Atlanta, GA
May 2022 – August 2022
Graduate Teaching Assistant/Instructor of Record

GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY, Atlanta, GA
August 2019 – May 2022
Graduate Research Assistant at Expressive Machinery Lab

DREXEL UNIVERSITY, Philadelphia, PA
June 2019 – August 2019
Part-Time Associate Researcher at Entrepreneurial Game Studio

SCIENCE WARP, Claremont, NH
June 2019 – August 2019
Part-Time Educational Game Designer

DREXEL UNIVERSITY, Philadelphia, PA
September 2017 – April 2018
Program Assistant Co-Op at Entrepreneurial Game Studio

DREXEL UNIVERSITY, Philadelphia, PA
June 2016 – August 2016
STAR Scholar at Entrepreneurial Game Studio

GANNETT FLEMING, Lebanon, NH
June 2014 – August 2015
Programming Intern

PUBLICATIONS

Conference Papers

Truesdell, E.J.K. (2025). “‘Pull the Lever, Kronk!’: Mapping Controller Affordances to Collaborative Sense-Making in Play.” Accepted to the 2025 conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG 2025).

Truesdell, E.J.K., and Madera, M. (2024). “Creative Sense-Making Analysis for the Representation of Collaboration in Embodied Play.” In Proceedings of the 2024 IEEE Conference on Games (IEEE CoG).

Truesdell, E.J.K., and Magerko, B. (2023). “Three Design Themes for Collaborative Alternative Controllers.” In Proceedings of the 2023 conference on the Foundations of Digital Games (FDG 2023).

Truesdell, E.J.K., Smith, J.B., Mathew, S., Katuka, G.A., Griffith, A., McKlin, T., Magerko, B., Freeman, J., and Boyer, K.E. (2021). “Supporting Computational Music Remixing with a Co-Creative Learning Companion.” In Proceedings of the 2021 International Conference on Computational Creativity. [Best Long Paper, Student-Led]

Smith, J., Truesdell, E.J.K., Freeman, J., Magerko, B., Boyer, K.E., and McKlin, T. (2020). “Modeling Music and Code Knowledge to Support a Co-creative AI Agent in Education”. In Proceedings of the 21st International Society for Music Information Retrieval Conference (ISMIR 2020).

Journal Articles

Weser, V.U., Crocker, A., Murray, T.S., Wright, J., Truesdell, E.J.K., Ciaburri, R., Marks, A.M., Martinello, R.A., and Hieftje, K.D. (2024) “Barriers to Effective Infection Prevention in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit: A Qualitative Study.” In Advances in Neonatal Care.

Rahimi, S., Smith, J.B., Truesdell, E.J.K., Vinay, A., Boyer, K.E., Magerko, B., Freeman, J., and McKlin, T. (2024). “An Automated, Unobtrusive, Formative Assessment of Creativity in a Computer Science and Music Remixing Learning Environment.” In Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity, and the Arts.

Short Papers

Tian, V.K., Truesdell, E.J.K., and Lee, F.J. (2024). “You Are Under Watch: Designing an Uncomfortable Pervasive Game for Critical Reflection and Player Equity.” Accepted to the 2024 International Symposium on Electronic Art (ISEA 2024).

Demo and Workshop Papers

Rahimi, S., Smith, J.B., Truesdell, E.J.K., Vinay, A., Boyer, K.E., Magerko, B., Freeman, J., and McKlin, T. (2023). “Validity and Fairness of an Automated Assessment of Creativity in Computational Music Remixing.” Workshop on Automated Assessment and Guidance of Project Work at the 24th International Conference on Artificial Intelligence in Education.

Truesdell, E.J.K. (2021). “Curve-Based Level Generation for a Full-Body VR Rhythm Game.” In Proceedings of the 17th AAAI conference on Artificial Intelligence and Interactive Digital Entertainment.

Other Scholarly Publications

Truesdell, E.J.K. (2023). “Designing Controllers for Collaborative Play.” Doctoral Dissertation in the School of Literature, Media, and Communication at the Georgia Institute of Technology.

INVITED TALKS

Lecture. “Sensemaking and Collaboration in Play.” Indiana University. February 2024.
Lecture. “Sensemaking and Collaboration in Play.” Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. February 2024.

GAME FESTIVALS

MAGFest Indie Arcade 2025. Haber Dasher, Selection.
MAGFest Indie Arcade 2024. Haber Dasher, Selection.
alt.ctrl.GDC 2023. Haber Dasher, Finalist.

POSTER PRESENTATIONS & DOCTORAL CONSORTIA

Weser, V.U., Crocker, A., Murray, T.S., Truesdell, E.J.K., Marks, A.M., Hieftje, K., and HIPSTER Team (2024). “NICU Stakeholder Input to Inform Content of a Virtual Reality Infection Prevention Educational Experience Targeting NICU Patient Families.” Poster presentation at the 2024 Virtual Medicine Conference.

Truesdell, E.J.K. (2022) “Uncovering Patterns in Collaborative Play with Alternative Controllers.” Doctoral consortium presentation at the 17th International Conference on the Foundations of Digital Games.

Truesdell, E.J.K. (2019). “Event[0] Game Narrative Review.” Poster presentation at the 2019 Game Developers Conference Narrative Summit.

Truesdell, E.J.K. (2017). “The Five Pillars of Effective Curriculum Development.” Poster presentation at the 2017 National Conference on Undergraduate Research.

PROJECTS & CREATIVE WORK

TRIP: A COSMIC ADVENTURE FOR TWO, May 2022 – May 2023
Controller and gameplay development
Created and developed an asymmetrical two-player alternative controller game in which two players work together to pilot a spaceship with hallucinogenic graphics.
HABER DASHER, September 2021 – present
Controller and gameplay development
Created and developed an alternative controller game using a massive two-player bowler hat. Haber Dasher was selected as a finalist for alt.ctrl.GDC 2023 and was selected for inclusion in the 2024 MAGFest Indie Arcade.
PhDuh, March 2022
Guest
Discussed PhD research on alternative game controllers.
STILL ON THE WATER, July 2017 – June 2019
Design, 3D Modeling, Public Relations
Collaborated on a 4-person team to develop a virtual reality kayaking experience exploring memory and small interpersonal interactions. This project was selected for presentation at the 2019 Intel University Games Showcase.
THERE’S BEEN A MURDER, September 2018 – June 2019
Team Lead, Interaction Programming, Public Relations
Collaborated on a 9-person interdisciplinary team to develop virtual reality murder mystery game as a senior design project at Drexel University. Responsibilities included programming several of the game’s puzzles and the game’s interaction-driven soundtrack.
CAFFEINE!, September 2018 – June 2019
Composer, Performer
Wrote and premiered CAFFEINE! duet for alto saxophone and piano.
EXCITECAST, February 2018
Guest
Discussed work on Hacktion, a pervasive mixed-reality mobile game to teach consumer cybersecurity.

AWARDS & HONORS

President’s Fellowship, Georgia Institute of Technology, 2019 – 2023
Student Who Makes A Difference, Lake Sunapee Region VNA & Hospice, 2014