Our Team
Staff
Nickolas Vance
Assistant Director Data Innovation
Nick leads the data analytics and innovation development teams for Data and Technology Innovation (DTI) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Nick has a B.A. in communication and an M.S in information sciences both from the University of Illinois. He has expertise in data analytics, technology prototyping, software development and social media analytics.
Hannah Christensen
Manager of Data & Technology Innovation
Hannah Christensen started a data analyst with the Data and Technology Innovation team in 2019 before becoming the Manager. She has a B.A. in Education and an M.S. in Library and Information Sciences from the School of Information Sciences (iSchool) at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. She has experience in data analytics, prototyping, and usability testing, with special interests in student success and DevOps.
Chieh-Li “Julian” Chin
Data Analyst
Research Manager, iSchool
Julian Chin is a data analyst with the Data and Technology Innovation team. She is also a research manager at the Social Computing Lab led by Professor Jana Diesner in the School of Information Sciences (iSchool). She has a B.S. in Business Administration, an M.S. in Library and Information Sciences, and an M.S. in Computer Science. She is experienced in software development, web development, and data analysis. Her research interests focus on data ethics and regulations in research practices in the area of responsible computing.
Curtis Donelson
Data Engineer
Curt is a data engineer with the Data and Technology Innovation team. His background is in behavioral health decision-making, with B.S. degrees in Psychology and Biology and an M.S. in Data Science from the University of Illinois. He performs machine learning and data visualizations in the DTI Lab.
Sarah Follmer
Associate Data Analyst
Sarah Follmer is an associate data analyst with the Data and Technology Innovation team. She graduated with her B.A. in Global Studies from the University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign and has 7 years of experience with both IT and audiovisual support on campus. She began her journey into data analytics in 2022 and is excited to use her IT experience to bring a unique perspective to the team. Sarah enjoys working with stakeholders to build versatile data visualizations with Splunk and Microsoft Power BI, and is always looking forward to learning new skills and tools.
Ashley Hetrick
Data Engineer
Ashley Hetrick is a data engineer with the Data and Technology Innovation team. Ashley has experience with data engineering, data science and analytics, and IT support. Her preferred tool is Python, but Ashley has worked with Excel, SQL, and visualization tools to solve various problems. Ashley is certified in Splunk, ITIL, and project management.
Yoon Lee
Data Engineer
Yoon is a data engineer with the Data and Technology Innovation team. Yoon has over 15 years of software development experiences and played role as a Develops with Scrum agile framework. Yoon has a B.A. in management information systems and an M.S in information science.
Cameron Schwing
Associate Data Analyst
Cameron is an Associate Data Analyst with the Data and Technology Innovation team. He has BS in Integrative Biology, EdM in Secondary Education, and MS in Biology degrees from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He has experience using Python, R, Excel, SQL, and Tableau to answer questions and solve problems. Cameron is especially interested in promoting student growth and development through data analytics.
Ryan Thomas
Data Analytics Solutions Specialist
Ryan is a Data Analytics Solutions Specialist and a member of the Data and Technology Innovation team. He has an M.S. in Technology-based Instruction from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and has spent his career delivering technology services at the U of I. As a principal on the U of I Splunk Service team, his current focus is on the use and analysis of streaming data in the pursuit of intelligent IT infrastructure and services. Ryan’s primary interest lies in student success / learning analytics.
James Balamuta, PhD
Faculty Affiliate, DTI Lab
Visiting Assistant Professor, Statistics
Dr. Balamuta is a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Statistics at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. He holds a Ph.D. in Informatics from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on latent variable estimation with a specialization in restricted latent class models, which provide considerable insight in psychological and educational assessment. For his work, he has been awarded the 2022 Psychometric Society Dissertation Prize and was a co-recipient of the 2021 Bradley Hanson Award for Contributions to Educational Measurement. He also has a strong interest in data science pedagogy and figuring out innovative ways to incorporate industry data science techniques in academic settings. Within the lab, he provides insight into various data science and statistical learning techniques for student success initiatives and co-leads students participating in the Undergraduate Research Experience in Statistics (URES) program.
Graduate Students
Undergraduate Research Experience in Statistics Students (URES)
Undergraduate Students
Alumni
- Siddhesh Agarwal
Computer Science and Advertising, 2023 - Mrinoy Banerjee
Computer Science, 2021 - Tyler Barton [URES]
Statistics & Computer Science, 2022
- Divya Bhati
Computer Science, 2021 - Jarret Brunner
Statistics and Computer Science, 2021 - Zongjian “Jack” He
Statistics, 2020 - Kanav Khanna
Statistics and Computer Science, 2023 - Mackenzie Kirkham
Computer Science, 2021 - Brian Ko
Computer Science, 2020 - David Koruna
Statistics, 2019 - Mit Kotak
Engineering Physics, 2023 - Aaryaman Kumar
Statistics and Computer Science, 2023 - LingHsi “Althea” Lui
Master of Computer Science - Louise Liu
Master of Engineering
- Ram Muthukamaran
Statistics and Computer Science, 2021 - Rose Nowak
Computer Science, 2021 - Vishwa Pancholi
Information Management, 2023 - Dingyu Peng
Mechanical Engineering, 2019 - Ajaita Saini
Statistics and Computer Science, 2021 - Siddharth Shetty
Information Management Masters, 2021 - JingTao “Skyler” Shi
Computer Engineering and Statistics, 2021 - Abhinav Tekulapally
Mathematics and Computer Science, 2021 - Kathy Tian
PhD candidate in Advertising, Marketing and Data Science - Cecily Wang
Master of Engineering - Yixi Wang
Economics and Statistics, 2019 - Duorui “Rachel” Xu
Kinesiology with Computer Science minor, 2020 - Jiachen “Lulu” Yao
PhD candidate in Advertising