Priscilla Gaona joins the IPaT team as the Event Coordinator. She most recently served as the Member Engagement Coordinator for Georgia Tech Campus Recreation, where she led member recruitment, engagement, and outreach and helped foster positive member experiences. She is known for creating welcoming environments, building strong relationships, and providing exceptional support.

Priscilla earned her Bachelor of Science in Movement and Sports Sciences, with minors in Psychology and Spanish, from Purdue University. She also holds a Master of Education in Higher Education and Student Personnel and a certificate in Career and Academic Advising.

Christine Robinson comes to IPaT with over 20 years of executive administrative experience. As a former USG employee, she worked at Georgia State University in the Andrew Young School for Policy Studies Dean’s Office as the administrative specialist. She also served as one of the former Directors of The Non-Profit Leadership Alliance at Georgia State. Christine relocated to Atlanta from Charlotte, NC and enjoys writing poetry and creating custom candles. Christine joined IPaT’s administrative team to assist with the day-to-day operations of the unit, direct support of unit management including coordinating calendars, meetings and assisting with events and procurement.

Walter Rich is a research communications program manager in Georgia Tech's Institute Communications supporting the Institute for People and Technology and Georgia Tech research communications.

Cynthia Moore is assistant director for business operations at the Institute for People and Technology. She has over a decade of experience at Georgia Tech, previously serving as director of Institute Diversity's OMED: Educational Services. She provided oversight and leadership of programs and initiatives that address the academic transition, retention, and academic success of underrepresented students in STEM. Moore also oversaw various initiatives at OMED, including the Tower Awards, an annual celebration of student diversity and academic success. She began her Georgia Tech career in Business Services where she was responsible for administrative and financial management.

Saru Mirisau is a grants administrator at IPaT. She has over 8 years of experience in post-award research administration from Emory University where she managed federal, foundation, and industry grants and contracts. As a grants administrator at IPaT, she will perform both pre-award and post-award functions ensuring that researchers are well informed on their grants’ financial health; financial reporting and regulatory compliance; and timely review and submission of grant proposals.

Quinn Drake has worked in the University System for over ten years. She joins our team from Emory University. Before Emory, Quinn worked at Georgia State University as a Grants and contracts officer. Her experience includes post-award management,  state accounts, residual accounts, indirect accounts, and foundation accounts. Her many roles in the financial arena have led her to the position of Financial Manager II.

LaShonda Rosier has over 20 years of administrative experience. She gained most of her experience working for local county and city government. She is a graduate of Savannah State University with a bachelor of business administration (management) and master of business administration (MBA) from Brenau University. She serves as the program and operations manager for the CEAR Hub.

Paul Diederich is a systems support engineer responsible for the day-to-day IT operations supporting our users. He also helps create IT solutions and played a key role in creating the Protected Health Data Infrastructure at IPaT. Paul graduated from Kennesaw State University with a bachelor's degree in Information Security Assurance. Prior to Georgia Tech, Paul did freelance IT providing technical support to individuals and companies including medical offices. He also worked at Mesa Community College as a media technician while he lived in Arizona.

Tim began working as the GVU Center’s research technologist in 2018. In conjunction with IPaT, he developed, designed, and launched the Craft Lab in 2022 and is serving as the director of the Prototyping, Craft, and Usability labs. Tim provides strategic oversight of the tools and technologies present in these “innovation labs” and seeks opportunities to grow and shape the spaces to match the ever-changing research landscape. These spaces are an essential component of the research within IPaT and the broader Georgia Tech community. Tim views the spaces not only as a set of technologies like 3D printers, laser cutters, embroidery machines, etc., but also as a catalyst to bring together community members and explore new frontiers of research.

Tim has also spent much of his time at Georgia Tech working in research computing, including his roles as a Research Technologist in College of Computing’s Technology Services Organization (TSO) and as a part of IPaT’s Research Operations team. He served as interim Associate Director for Research in TSO in 2023. His focus in these areas is in DevOps and business automation with aims to match IT capabilities and capacities with the needs of end-users.

Tim holds a master of science in human-computer interaction and a graduate certificate in Management of Technology from Georgia Tech. His thesis project focused on the introductory experience to academic makerspaces and digital tools that support new users. In this work, Tim prototyped a new digital training aid for makerspaces to allow more seamless introduction for new users while satisfying training requirements.

Faith Sumpter (she/her/hers) joins the IPaT team as the program and operations manager. Faith joins the team from Georgia Tech’s Institute Diversity department where she provided support for several programs including Employee Resource Groups, Inclusive Leaders Academy, and Transformative Narratives. Prior to that position, she worked within student activities, orientation, and leadership programs at UNC Asheville, Chattahoochee Technical College, and Agnes Scott College. Faith received a bachelor of arts in Spanish from Wesleyan College in Macon, Georgia, and a master of arts in higher education and student affairs from the University of Connecticut in Storrs, CT. Outside of work, she is an active member of her community and serves as the member-at-large for diversity and inclusion for the Wesleyan College Alumnae Association Board of Managers.