SHORT BIOGRAPHY

Alex C. Nielsen is a team lead for VMASC's Teams Space, an Agile Research and Prototyping lab focused on developing user- and impact-centric solutions to VMASC project needs. As a researcher, he is focused on User Experience research in the fields of Human Computer Interaction, Organizational Ecology, and Biometrics. As a project scientist, Alex works with fellow researchers to execute on the analysis and design of systems and their interfaces to increase their value, instructional capability, accessibility, and efficiency.

EDUCATION

Ph.D. in English, Fall 2021
Old Dominion University (ODU), Norfolk, VA

M.A. in English, 2015
Cleveland State University (CSU), Cleveland, OH

B.A. in English, 2012
Cleveland State University (CSU), Cleveland, OH

A.A. in English, 2011
Cuyahoga Community College, Cleveland, OH

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

VMASC, Senior Project Scientist
1030 University Boulevard; Suffolk, VA
2019 – Present

Alex C. Nielsen Document Design Services, Technical Writer, Professional Editor, User Experience, Usability, & Instructional Design Consultant,
2010 - 2019

Infinium Graphics and The VAMM Group, Graphic Designer and Marketing Specialist
Houston, TX
2005-2014

MODELING RELIGIOUS CHANGE

(PI) - Researched and designed communications frameworks for the communication of research related to social factors and human behavior in simulations. Coordinated with industry partners to design resources for data sharing, community onboarding, impact-based program design, and multi-disciplinary integration in the Modeling & Simulation space.

VIRGINIA SMALLSAT DATA CONSORTIUM

(Co-PI) - Developed data science ecosystem design for economic growth and small business incubation across the Commonwealth of Virginia; developed and executed talent pipeline programs and related software tools and environments in order to integrate the data science and ModSim communities with open access and public data from dozens of industries and through multiple university systems.

IPOET/PRIOR/MUSE

Coordinated with US Navy partners to assess user activity and needs in various specializations and to create digital tools which leverage those workflows to increase transparency, data sharing culture, accessibility, and collaboration in the areas of Mission Engineering, Mission Planning, Strategic Partnerships, and Acquisitions.

CONFERENCE PAPERS/POSTERS

Shull, J., and Nielsen, A. (2020) Digital Wunderkammer: Full-Stack UX and Development of VR Narrative Modeling Solutions. 9th Annual Symposium on Communicating Complex Information. Norfolk, VA.

Nielsen, A. (2018) ‘Breaking the Padlock’: Protecting and Resolving Student Ownership of Remix and Assemblage. Students’ Rights to their Own Intellectual Property. The Conference on College Composition and Communication. Kansas City, MO.

Nielsen, A. (2017). Designing UI/UX Technologies for the Classroom: Eye-tracking for Less. Conference of the Association of Teachers of Technical Writing. Portland, OR.

PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES

Amidon, T., Nielsen, A., Pflugfelder, E., Richards, D., Stephenson, S. (2020, upcoming), Visual Risk Literacy in "Flatten the Curve" COVID-19 Visualizations, Journal of Business and Technical Communication, Sage.

Cardier, B. Shull, J. Nielsen, A. Diallo, S. Casas, N., Lundberg, P., Sanford, L.D., Civarra, R. Goranson, T. (2020), A Narrative Modeling Platform; Representing the comprehension of novelty in open world systems, ed. Lawless, W., Mittu, R., Sofge, D., Human-Machine Shared Contexts, Elsevier.

Cardier, B. Shull, J. Nielsen, A. Garcia, M., Wellman, L., Yoon, H., Britten, R., Sanford, L.D. (2020, upcoming), Connecting the Dots: Representing real-world systems across multiple heterogeneous models, Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, Elsevier.

COURSE TEXT

Breeze, W, Dugan, Melanie Gagich, Alex C. Nielsen, and Jessica Schantz, eds. The Engaged Reader: Issues & Conversations for Composition. 1st ed. Cincinnati: Van Griner, 2014. Print. . 1st ed. Cincinnati: Van Griner, 2014. Print.

CV/RESUME