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 Library Research Team
Biographies of faculty and students at IIT Institute of Design who contributed to the ThinkeringSpace library study.
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Summer 2007
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    Heloisa Moura, PhD, Research Associate, IIT Institute of Design

Heloisa Moura has an interdisciplinary academic background. She holds a Masters of Science Degree in Education and four expertise diplomas, graduate level: Computer Graphics; Internet, Interface & Multimedia; Distance Education; and Psycho-pedagogy. Her B.S. is in Mathematics.


Heloisa has concluded a PhD degree in Human-Centered Communication Design at the Institute of Design, Illinois Institute of Technology, funded by the Brazilian National Council for Scientific and Technological Development, CNPq. Her research focuses on understanding multimodal interaction and learning within technology-enhanced learning environments.
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    Polly Greathouse, MDM Candidate, IIT Institute of Design

Polly Greathouse is a Master of Design Methods candidate at IIT Institute of Design in Chicago, IL. With experience in broadcast television, film production, multimedia, interactive media design, and mobile interface design, Polly has created corporate communications through conventional film, animation, video and computer graphics, and has evolved her digital portfolio through to recent directing of over-the-air video for Motorola in 2007. With a Bachelors Degree in Fine Arts, Painting from the University of Illinois, Champaign, Polly launched a Design career with a passion for communications in digital and analog media.



In eight years as Senior Interface Designer at Rand McNally, design of mapping and GPS navigation experiences on laptop PC, Palm OS, Pocket PC, and mobile phones fueled her discipline in user research and ethnography to ensure products work well for people who use them.

The ThinkeringSpace project holds the potential to bring artful study and thoughtful creativity full circle for children and adults, allowing them to tap into state-of-the-art in information search and sharing. Having led numerous classes in creative learning for children, Polly promotes a passion for creativity in analog media and promotes the value of a synchronous interface in digital media to enhance people's learning, sharing and play.


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    Laura E. Franek, MDes Candidate, IIT Institute of Design

Laura E. Franek earned her BFA at the Carnegie Mellon University School of Design where she majored in human-centered Communication Design and Business Management. As a native of Washington, DC, she is familiar with the design scene and has worked at several award winning design firms in the DC metropolitan area.
Prior to joining ID, Laura worked for three years as a designer with a talented team of designers, writers and PR specialists to produce marketing and recruiting materials for Loyola College in Maryland. Currently, her focus is leading human-centered design strategies that are founded on design research and methods.

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    Dale Fahnstrom, Professor, IIT Institute of Design

Dale Fahnstrom is former director of the Institute of Design, where he has been on faculty since 1966. As a member of the interdisciplinary faculty team that leads the graduate demonstration class, he works individually with students on human-centered product development theses. Professor Fahnstrom assists the Director on facilities planning and coordination.
Professor Fahnstrom has designed products for such diverse corporate clients as Knoll International, Philips Electronics, Steelcase, and NEC. His work in packaging design is featured in the permanent collection of the Cooper-Hewitt Museum; his ‘Bulldog’ chair, designed with Michael McCoy and introduced in 1990 by Knoll, was the largest-selling seating product in the manufacturer's line. He is a partner in the consulting firm of Fahnstrom/White and holds a B.F.A. and M.F.A. from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
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    Greg Prygrocki, Associate Professor, IIT Institute of Design

Greg Prygrocki has served as the Institute's Associate Director and has taught courses ranging from the Foundation series (required of all in-coming students with no design background), to the Research and Demonstration Project class, the "thesis project" of the Master of Design degree.


His professional experience has included work in the areas of identity, signage, publication and book design. His own work and examples of his students' projects have appeared in various national and international publications. He holds a B.I.D. from the University of Manitoba, Canada, and an M.V.A., University of Alberta, Canada.