Hello 〰️
I’m Ellie, a technodesigner.
Technodesign = technology + design. Yes, I made this up. Web App Developer | UX Engineer | Creative Technologist | New Media Artist — that’s so verbose. Being a technodesigner is just one pretty simple word.
Creative technology is my specialty.
Currently I’m living in Berkeley, CA, pursuing a master’s degree in Design + New Media @ UC Berkeley. Before this, I was a Senior Software Engineer at Disney.
My work ranges from physical computing to traditional painting. I enjoy playing with craft, color, and whimsy.
I am half Japanese-American, half Italian + German-American, and a native Angeleno — born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, USA.
📷 Photo by Johnny Thanphachanh
Experience
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Web app development for UC Berkeley Haas School of Business Center for Equity Gender Accessibility and Leadership (EGAL). I currently work with Webflow, JavaScript, SVG animation. I manage the EGAL resources website. I also defined and maintain the accompanying component library and style guide.
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Senior Software Engineer | DECEMBER 2017 - JULY 2022
The Walt Disney Company, Glendale, CA
Built new features in an agile environment for major domestic and international Disney sites including Disney.com, StarWars.com, and Disneyland® and Walt Disney World® official websites
Developed and launched Unison, a unified suite of internal tools for Marvel, National Geographic, and ABC News digital products
Collaborated with Product, Design, UX and QA to build interactive guest experiences with an emphasis on performance and responsive design
Led engineering for A/B testing product concepts, including Ads and UI redesigns, to find promising directions that address both guest and business needs
Mentored junior developers and onboarded new engineers
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Web Application Developer | JULY 2015 - DECEMBER 2017
The Walt Disney Company, Glendale, CA
Interpreted UX designs to build creative web experiences with a keen eye for visual design and user interaction
Co-founded and oversaw the Women + Tech Brown Bag Lunch Series, a monthly open forum to discuss topics relevant to women and technology
Drove and developed projects from concept to production, working closely with product managers and designers
Developed and maintained extensible cross-browser, cross-device code to build scalable applications and reusable modules
Relaunched Disney’s flagship eCommerce website, shopDisney.com, featuring a responsive redesign and PCI compliant checkout experience written in React
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UX Engineer | APRIL 2014 - JULY 2015
MediaHound, El Segundo, CA
Developed front-end code to launch new user-facing websites including MediaHound.com and DateNightMovies.com
Created low to high fidelity wireframes and prototypes
Partnered with Creative Director, Stakeholders and engineering team to build compelling user experience solutions
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Operations Administrator | NOVEMBER 2012 - JANUARY 2014
Motion Picture Licensing Corporation, Los Angeles, CA
Administered, monitored and validated automation tasks
Collected data from reports and queries to support team efficiency
Built a system of templated spreadsheets to arrange, manipulate, format and prepare large amounts of information
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Graphic Designer | MAY 2012 - NOVEMBER 2012
Digital Color World dba BannerWorld, Los Angeles, CA
Exercised graphical input and creative knowledge daily while utilizing proficiency in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
Administered company operations - from collecting orders, to sending orders to the in-house production team for large-format CMYK printing, to summarizing consumer feedback
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Associate Project Manager | JUNE 2010 - MAY 2012
EME Partners, Los Angeles, CA
Managed and co-managed 30+ projects ranging from minor Single Family Dwelling remodels to entire new site construction
Designed and developed project proposals with lead architect
Liaised and delegated tasks amongst clients, lead architect, engineering team, contractor, and City Planning offices
Expedited drawings to LA Department of Building and Safety
Education
Master of Design (MDes)
Emphasis in New Media
UC Berkeley
Expected 2024
Web Development Immersive
General Assembly
2014
User Experience Design
UCLA Extension
2013
Architectural Studies (BA)
UCLA
2011
Liberal Arts (AA)
Santa Monica College
2008
Leadership
Creative Co-Lead
Disney PRIDE
2021-2022
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Membership Chair
Disney Women + Tech
2016-2017
Administrative Officer
UC Berkeley MDes Student Association (MDSA)
2022-2023
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Mentor
Disney CODE: Rosie
2016-2019
Awards & Recognitions
Webbys
Winner: Magazine
NATIONALGEOGRAPHIC.COM | 2020
Winner: People’s Voice
STARWARS.COM | 2018
STARWARS.COM | 2017
DATENIGHTMOVIES.COM | 2016
Honoree: Youth Website
DISNEY.COM | 2015
Nominee: Celebrity/Fan
STARWARS.COM | 2015
Disney Women + Tech
Volunteer of the Year | 2016
Disney Interactive Hackathon
1st Place: Internet of Things | 2015
Nickelodeon Games Hackathon
Winner | 2014
Skills
Creative
Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, Photoshop, After Effects, Sketch, Figma, InVision, Procreate, Autodesk AutoCAD, Fusion 360, Rhinoceros 3D, Midjourney, Dall-E, prototyping, wireframing, interaction design, illustration, painting
Engineering
HTML, CSS/SCSS, JavaScript, React, Angular, Bootstrap, Node, Underscore, Google Ad Manager, Google Analytics, Docker, Python, PHP, WordPress, Git(hub/lab), Raspberry Pi, Arduino
Curious?
You can view my résumé as a single page PDF.