Team
The Business Innovation Factory is expert at crafting modular teams that assemble quickly to tackle a new project. For the initial phase of the NHoF laboratory, BIF rallied a team of designers, researchers, information architects, photographers, videographers and elder care experts to get the project moving.
NHoF Lab Design Team
Mickey Ackerman
Mickey Ackerman currently serves as director of BIF’s Experience Lab platform. A professor at the Rhode Island School of Design, Ackerman has spent decades teaching designers how to define problems clearly and then solve those problems through multidisciplinary teamwork.
Michael Lye
For the past ten years, Michael Lye has been teaching at Rhode Island School Design (RISD) in the Industrial Design department. Michael brings his interest and experience in human-centered design, research and design for the healthcare to lead Experience Research for the Nursing Home of the Future program, identify and define new directions and oppurtunities for the long-term care in the US.
Allan Tear
Allan Tear’s work as a strategist, manager and entrepreneur in collaborative innovation spans the for-profit and non- profit worlds. As Experience Lab Director with the Business Innovation Factory, Allan works with BIF members and partners to build a collaborative innovation platform and supporting processes to catalyze "what's next" experiments in Healthcare, Education, and Public Safety.
Julianne Gauron
In her role as Design Researcher Julianne acts as a user advocate working daily with residents, staff, administrators and family members as the Tockwotton Home, a nursing home and assisted living facilty in Providence, to gain a deep understanding of nursing care in the US today.
Phase I Lead Contributors
Heather Bruneau
Heather Bruneau's primary care of expertise is in public health related research. She currently pursuing a fifth year of medical school in order to pursue her research interests.
Matt Cottam
Matt Cottam studied Industrial Design at Rhode Island School of Design. Matt lead the Storytelling aspects of the Nursing Home of the Future project, editing and synthesizing primary and secondary research findings to shape the project’s mission, core messages and overarching narrative.
Stephanie Alvarez Ewens
Stephanie Alvarez Ewens is documentary photographer based in Providence, Rhode Island. She began her photographic career in California studying under photojournalist and writer Ken Kobre at San Francisco State University after receiving a B.A. in Economics from Santa Clara University.
Adam Meyer
Adam Meyer is currently a senior at the Rhode Island School of Design studying Industrial Design with a focus on digital media and human interaction. Along with this background, Adam brought his experience in web production and web application design to the Nursing Home of the Future program.
David Watson Sobel
David Watson Sobel is recent graduate of Brown University where he focused on the intersection of healthcare and visual thinking. He is interested in understanding user experiences as a means to develop transformative design in healthcare, and joined the Nursing Home of the Future program to bring his talents to exploring nursing home life in America.