IPaT Personnel
Beth Mynatt - Executive Director 
Areas of Expertise: Computing, Home Technologies, Office Environments, People and Technology, Personal Health, Personal InformationElizabeth D. Mynatt is the Executive Director of the Institute for People and Technology, and Professor in the College of Computing at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Her research program Everyday Computing examines the human-computer interface implications of having computation continuously present in many aspects of everyday life. Her research contributes to ongoing work in personal health informatics, computer-supported collaborative work and human-computer interface design. Named Top Woman Innovator in Technology by Atlanta Woman Magazine in 2005, Mynatt has created new technologies that support the independence and quality of life of older adults "aging in place," that help people manage diabetes, and that increase creative collaboration in workplaces. Mynatt is a member of the SIGCHI Academy, a Sloan and Kavli research fellow, and serves on Microsoft Research's Technical Advisory Board. Mynatt is also a member of the Computing Community Consortium, an NSF-sponsored effort to engage the computing research community in envisioning more audacious research challenges.
Jeff Evans - Deputy Director
Jeff Evans is the Deputy Director for the Institute for People and Technology and also a Principal Research Engineer and Deputy Director for the Information and Communications Laboratory at the Georgia Tech Research Institute. His research interest are broadband and mobile wireless networks, particularly for educational outreach and efficient delivery to underserved areas. He is also the director of the Foundations for the Future (F3) program, an ongoing outreach program in its 15th year for developing efficient network access into the classroom and local community along with advancing applications usage into the classroom. Some of his roles with IPaT are connecting the research efforts across campus to enhance applied research development, international collaborations, and is responsible for integrating the IPaT research theme areas of Education Technologies and Humanitarian Systems.
Ed Price - Director of Research Partnerships and Development
Ed Price is the Director of Research Partnerships and Development with the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT), and the Director and a founder of the Interactive Media Technology Center (IMTC) at Georgia Tech. Ed has been with IMTC since its inception in 1989, and became a Research Engineer in the center in 1991, the same year he graduated from Georgia Tech. He has been in a leadership role in the center since 1994. He has led numerous research projects during his career at GT, including work on new media, wireless technology, and user interfaces, If one were to pick Ed’s three most influential research projects, it would probably be the interactive video systems used as part of Atlanta’s successful Olympic bid; his work developing the first IP-based home telemedicine system with full motion video in 1995; and the development of the audio search technology spun off to Nexidia, Inc. Ed also has a passion for the use of new media technology in the arts, and has done numerous projects with leading Museums and other cultural groups in Atlanta and around the US.
Ed holds a number of patents, including six in phonetic wordspotting as well as others in telemedicine networks. He has been involved in a number of commercialization efforts throughout his career. Ed is also the US Representative from ANSI to ISO/IEC JTC1 SC35, the international standards body on User Interfaces. He has been a speaker or keynote speaker at numerous conferences and events in the US and abroad. In addition to his academic work, Ed has done consulting work with a number of large companies including Raytheon, IBM, Boeing, Thomson, AT&T, and Ford.
Matt Sanders - Director of Research Operations
Matt Sanders is the Director of Research Operations at IPaT. Matt works with Georgia Tech students and researchers, along with industry partners in the creation of innovative mobile and converged applications and services. He is also the Associate Director, and co-founder, of the Georgia Tech Research Network Operations Center (GT-RNOC), a unique research center supporting industry and student engagement through research and operational projects; and the wireless services manager for Georgia Tech in the Office of Information Technology. Matt is a principal in the annual Convergence Innovation Competition, now in its eigth year, which provides industry sponsors an opportunity to engage students in wide ranging categories including Media, Home, Health, Social, Commerce, and Cloud. Matt is also responsible for GTmob, an HTML5 based portal for mobile, desktop, and kiosks; where any member of the campus community can access campus IT services and contribute content, meta-data, and the applications themselves.
Sherry N. Farrugia - Strategic Partners Officer, Health Information Technology
As a Strategic Partners Officer for Georgia Tech Sherry works closely with corporate leaders to develop partnerships between companies and campus. By understanding their business and technology interests and applying an in-depth knowledge of Georgia Tech’s expertise, research initiatives and health information technology, Sherry develop the connections and collaboration models that best meet a company’s strategic goals, specifically as it relates to Health IT. This includes providing insight into the innovations, new technologies and start up ventures developed at Georgia Tech.
Prior to Georgia Tech, Sherry was senior vice president of gBehavior, a company that delivers custom-designed behavior modification solutions to the self-insured to measurably change behavior in health and wellness, ultimately reducing the cost of providing health care to its employees. She also co-founded and sold a health care IT company to McKesson HBO & Company in the early ’90s whose technology was focused on point-of-care documentation and tracking both clinical and financial outcomes – technology McKesson is still using in their systems today.
Renata LeDantec - Marcom Director
Renata LeDantec is the marketing communication director for Georgia Tech’s Institute for People and Technology. She is responsible for IPaT’s brand identity, internal and external communications including media relations as well as IPaT’s events. Previously, she served as the marketing director for the GVU Center, an interdisciplinary research center that brings together people from all six Georgia Tech colleges to solve complex problems. LeDantec has 18 years of experience in project management, brand strategies and marketing communications in positions in the United States, Australia and the Czech Republic.
Bobby Strickland - Senior Graphic Designer
Bobby Strickland began working for IPaT in 2011. Bobby rapidly began the task of giving IPaT a consistent visual identity across printed and digital media. Bobby worked closely with the researchers and staff at IPaT to articulate their mission and goals, and now designs targeted collaterals, web graphics, and dynamic presentations for the Institute. Bobby is a graduate of Portfolio Center in Atlanta Georgia. He has also worked in several Atlanta-based advertising agencies, before coming to Georgia Tech.
Marcia Chandler - Senior Administrative Professional
In her 11 years with Georgia Institute of Technology, Marcia E. Chandler worked with the Executive Masters in International Logistics (EMIL) Program and the Tennenbaum Institute before joining the Institute for People and Technology. With more than 20 years of professional experience, she has had extensive interaction with senior level executives, both from the U.S. and from international locations. Additionally, she has organized diverse projects and coordinated the needs of the academic units, including external conferences, advisory board meetings and special events, interdisciplinary and sponsored research activities, and development related issues.
Prior to joining Georgia Tech in March 2001, she held positions as a Legislative Aide in the Florida House of Representatives, Professional Development staff member at Florida A&M University's School of Business and Industry, Communication Specialist at Corning Incorporated, and Branch Administrator for Inacom Information Systems.
