Projects
UX Researcher
August 2023 - Present Baldwin Wallace UX Lab
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Wayfinding Research Study at Ritter Library: Led a team of 7 in a pathfinding research project to improve navigation within the library. Leveraged advanced eye-tracking technology to analyze participants' eye movements, creating heat maps to validate the placement and effectiveness of newly designed informational posters. The findings enhanced spatial efficiency and guided students to their destinations more effectively resulting in a 43% faster time to class. Presented results at the CEMS Showcase as part of the Ritter Library wayfinding research study.
- Usability Study for Student Software Platform: Collaborated with Qwickly to identify usability flaws in an upcoming student software site enhancing user experience and interface efficiency. Here is an article on our research.
- Usability improvement for automotive website: Usability improvement for automotive website: Collaborated with OEC to identify usability flaws on an automotive maintenance certification website, enhancing user experience and interface efficiency.
Key Skills: User experience research, team management, usability testing, data analysis.
Yellow Jacket Arcade
October 2024 - Present Github Link
As part of my personal projects, I am developing a website called Yellow Jacket Arcade, a centralized collection of game links designed to streamline access and reduce clutter from bookmarks in web browsers. This project allows me to explore and implement various web development techniques and optimization strategies, including:
- Link Optimization Techniques: I utilize prefetch on hover for faster link loading, ensuring a seamless user experience by anticipating user actions. Additionally, I implement lazy loading to improve page performance and loading times.
- Interactive Features: The website incorporates JavaScript functionalities from external libraries, such as scroll fade-in effects, enhancing the visual appeal and interactivity of the site. I also implement a dark mode feature, providing users with a customizable viewing experience.
- User-Centric Design: By focusing on usability and aesthetics, I aim to create an engaging platform that encourages users to easily navigate and discover games.
Key Skills: Web Development, JavaScript, Performance Optimization, User Experience (UX) Design, Responsive Design.
NoteTack
December 2024 - Present Github Link
As part of my personal projects, I am developing a website called NoteTack, a lightweight note-taking web application designed to provide users with a simple, virtual alternative to sticky notes. This project focuses on user-friendly design and seamless functionality, enabling users to create, organize, and manage their thoughts efficiently.
- UI/UX Design: I designed the intuitive and visually appealing interface of NoteTack, ensuring an engaging and responsive user experience. The UI allows for easy addition, positioning, and deletion of sticky notes on the page.
- Interactive Features: Leveraging JavaScript functionalities sourced from online libraries, NoteTack incorporates interactive features such as drag-and-drop note repositioning, persistent note saving via localStorage, and customizable note layouts.
- Customization Options: Users can double-click to add new notes, dynamically position them, and clear all notes with a single click, creating a highly personalized note-taking experience.
Key Skills: UI/UX Design, HTML/CSS, JavaScript Integration, Responsive Design, Web Development.
Home Server
August 2024 - Present
As part of my personal projects, I am developing a robust home server infrastructure utilizing a Raspberry Pi running Raspbian and Docker, a mini computer operating on Ubuntu Server, and a gaming laptop running Ollama AI. This setup allows me to explore and implement various server applications and services, including:
- Containerization with Docker: I leverage Docker to efficiently manage and deploy applications in isolated environments, ensuring scalability and ease of maintenance.
- Multi-Platform Integration: By combining Raspberry Pi, mini computer, and gaming laptop systems, I deepen my understanding of cross-platform interactions and network management.
- Service Deployment: I am experimenting with hosting services such as media streaming, file sharing, home automation, and AI-powered applications, gaining hands-on experience in server management and configuration.
Key Skills: Containerization with Docker, Multi-Platform Integration, Server Management and Configuration, Networking, System Administration.
Levenshtein Edit Distance: Algorithmic Approaches And Data Structures For Text Processing
August 2023 - December 2023 GitHub Link
- Core Algorithm: At the heart of computational linguistics lies the Levenshtein Edit Distance algorithm, which is crucial for precise text processing. Our project compared the runtime of dynamic versus recursive implementations, emphasizing their use in text applications.
- Data Structure Exploration: We explored data structures—Hash Set, Trie, and Binary Search Tree—for quick word retrieval before calculating the Levenshtein Distance. Recursive methods had a time complexity of O(Max(N, M)^3), while dynamic programming was more efficient at O(N*M).
- Performance Analysis: Hash Sets proved to be the fastest for word verification, while Binary Search Trees were slower due to imbalances. Our project highlighted how combining these data structures and algorithms optimized Levenshtein Distance for real-world use.
Key Skills: Algorithm implementation, performance analysis, data structures.
Comparative Analysis of String Searching Algorithms: Brute Force, Rabin-Karp, and Boyer-Moore
August 2024 - December 2024 Github Link
- Algorithm Comparison: This project compared three string-matching algorithms—Brute Force, Rabin-Karp, and Boyer-Moore—by searching for the word "the" in diverse datasets, including Shakespeare’s works, the Titanic script, and The Lottery. Boyer-Moore consistently outperformed others in efficiency.
- Performance Analysis: Boyer-Moore’s heuristic-based shifts provided optimal efficiency with a best-case time complexity of O(N/M). Brute Force, while simpler, was faster than Rabin-Karp due to the latter’s computational overhead from hash checking.
- Practical Insights: The findings demonstrated Boyer-Moore's suitability for large-scale text searches, while highlighting the trade-offs in Rabin-Karp's performance. These insights stress the importance of algorithm selection based on dataset size and structure.
Key Skills: Advanced algorithm implementation, computational performance analysis, and efficient data structure utilization.
Graphic Design and Typography Projects
August 2022 - Present
- Design Projects Overview: In my Graphic Design 1 and Typography classes, I developed a range of design projects that showcase my skills in visual communication and typographic design. These projects involved creating logos, posters, and digital artwork that emphasize effective design principles and creative typography.
- Portfolio: Explore my portfolio on Behance to see my work.
Key Skills: Visual communication, design principles, creative typography.
Work Experience
Founder – Virtual Immersive BEhavioral Sciences (VIBES) Lab
Baldwin Wallace University | Berea, Ohio | January 2025 – Present
- Cross-Disciplinary Lab Leadership: Co-founded the VIBES Lab in partnership with Psychology Professor Dr. Thomas to investigate therapeutic relapse through immersive virtual reality and eye-tracking. I lead a seven-member interdisciplinary team spanning psychology, neuroscience, and computer science.
- Therapeutic Simulation Development: Lead development of custom Unity-based VR experiences in C# designed to model fear conditioning and emotional response. Integrated hardware SDKs including Tobii and HTC Vive Pro Eye for real-time tracking of fixation, gaze duration, and pupil dilation.
- Immersive vs. Traditional Exposure Studies: Conducting experimental comparisons between VR-based and 2D-screen-based fear conditioning to evaluate their effectiveness in evoking emotional responses, using biometric data like pupil dilation and object-specific gaze fixation.
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Technical Infrastructure & Documentation:
Maintain a detailed GitHub repository documenting lab
architecture, C# scripts, and SDK setup workflows to ensure
reproducibility and support new developer onboarding.
🔗 github.com/JohnBacho/VIBES-LAB - Lab Operations & Funding Strategy: Collaborated with university leadership to secure physical lab space and initial funding, establishing a long-term foundation for interdisciplinary research and growth.
Key Skills: Unity, C#, HTC Vive Pro Eye, Tobii SDK, Eye-Tracking, Pupil Dilation Analysis, Experimental Design, GitHub Documentation, Cross-Functional Collaboration.
Enterprise Architect Analysis Intern
Nordson | Amherst, Ohio | May 2024 - August 2024
- Technical Documentation and Interface Migration: Developed technical documentation and reduced technical debt for SAP PI/PO interfaces by collaborating with teams across Europe and America. Created interfaces crucial for the upcoming migration to SAP BTP by generating test cases, validating interfaces post-migration, and identifying and deactivating obsolete interfaces.
- Strategy Presentation: Created and presented slides outlining the PI/PO retirement strategy and system architecture to communicate the benefits of the migration to SAP BTP, securing support from leadership.
- CPI Interface Documentation: Engineered documentation for CPI interfaces to support the transition to BTP, ensuring a streamlined migration process that simplifies system architecture, reduces complexity, and enhances scalability.
- Self-Service Data Reporting: Documented key tables within the SAP system to support self-service data reporting in Power BI.
Key Skills: SAP PI/PO, SAP BTP migration, CPI interfaces, technical documentation, system architecture, Power BI, process optimization, cross-functional collaboration.
IT Asset Management Intern
Nordson | Amherst, Ohio | May 2023 - August 2023
- CMDB Asset Analysis: Analyzed Configuration Management Database (CMDB) assets to ensure data accuracy and reliability.
- CMDB Documentation: Reviewed, created, and updated CMDB documentation while adhering to IT project management standards. Explored ServiceNow Software Asset Management functionalities for improved software tracking.
- ITIL Best Practices: Applied ITIL methodologies in collaboration with the IT Asset Management teams to oversee the ServiceNow Helpdesk system and maintain the integrity of the asset management infrastructure.
- Microsoft Office Suite Expertise: Utilized Excel and other Microsoft Office tools for in-depth data analysis, presenting findings, and supporting informed decision-making.
Key Skills: IT Asset Management, CMDB, ServiceNow, ITIL best practices, Microsoft Office, data analysis.
Tech Consultant
Target | Medina, Ohio | July 2022 - May 2023
- Tech Issue Resolution: Provided technical assistance to approximately 15 customers per shift, delivering fast and effective solutions for their technology needs.
- Customer Communication: Tailored communication to customer knowledge levels, ensuring clear understanding of both new and legacy technology.
- Electronics Sales: Drove sales in electronics departments (TVs, mobile devices, video games) while meeting sales targets.
- Team Collaboration: Collaborated with team members to meet sales goals and enhance customer satisfaction through excellent service.
Key Skills: Technical support, customer service, sales strategy, electronics.
Education
Baldwin Wallace University | Berea, Ohio | May 2026
Bachelor of Science, Computer Science | Transcript
Minor, Graphic Design
GPA: 3.94
Honors: 6x Dean List Recipient (3.8 GPA required)
Professional Interest: Programming, UI/UX design, graphic design, web development
Technology Proficiencies: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Python, Java, Office 365, Windows, macOS, Graphic Design, UI/UX Design
Related Extracurricular Experience
ACM Chapter President / ACM + W Chapter member / Sherman Williams Career Accelerator Scholar / The Hive Design Group Graphic Designer