Embry‑Riddle Aeronautical University Human Factors Ph.D. candidate Jenna Korentsides has spent much of the past two years researching the latest mixed-reality devices, including the Microsoft HoloLens, Apple Vision Pro and Meta Quest.

“It’s a lot of exploration as to what these devices are best at,” said Korentsides, who has worked in the university’s Small Teams Analog Research (STAR) Lab and Research Engineering and Applied Collaborations in Healthcare (REACH) Lab. “I love to innovate and help people where I can.”

Still, she never expected her experience to lead to a summer internship as a hardware engineer at Apple — especially without even applying.

“I got an email from Apple this spring, and I immediately forwarded it to my dad because I wasn’t sure it was real,” said Korentsides. “But I verified it was real. Apple had found my resume on LinkedIn and reached out to me.”

Fast-forward to this summer, and Korentsides is working on the lead team for interaction design at Apple, taking on her own projects while assisting others.

“I’m excited about all of the different types of skills I am gaining and learning opportunities I am being offered,” said Korentsides.

With a background in psychology and digital design, the Bergen County, New Jersey, native credits her success to several faculty mentors, including her Ph.D. advisor, Dr. Joseph R. Keebler, and Dr. Barbara Chaparro, who worked with Korentsides when she was a master’s student. With about a year left to complete her doctorate, Korentsides is already a co-author on five peer-reviewed journal publications and has delivered more than a dozen conference lectures and presentations on her research.

“All these experiences have led me here now,” she said.

Path to Success

Keebler, associate professor of Human Factors and director of the STAR Lab, has worked with Korentsides on a variety of U.S. Navy projects, including one related to predictive crew analytics. She also collaborated with him on a Naval Air Warfare Center Training Systems Division project seeking to assess the differences in parachute training performance using a virtual reality headset versus a parachute simulator.

“Her work ethic is outstanding; she’s a very quick learner and proactive,” he said. “It doesn’t take long for Jenna to learn how to do very difficult, complex things.”

Korentsides was chosen for the College of Arts and Sciences’ Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award in 2024 and the Outstanding Service Award in 2023, won the RADM Fred Lewis Scholarship for Training, Education and Simulation Research, and is currently the chair of the mentor program within the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society’s on-campus student chapter. Additionally, she served as a team lead on the university’s EcoCAR Mobility Challenge.

Korentsides also contributed to research with Drs. Barbara and Alex Chaparro, as well as with Dr. John French, director of the university’s Aerospace Physiology Lab.

“I want to create assistive technology,” said Korentsides. “I love space, and I want to make the lives of astronauts easier and safer.”

Coming Full Circle

Crystal M. Fausett is another Embry‑Riddle Human Factors and Behavioral Neurobiology Department success story who, like Korentsides, is also headed to California’s Bay Area this summer, thanks to her research experience.

Completing her Ph.D. dissertation defense on June 12, Fausett will start as an assistant professor in the School of Information this fall at her undergraduate alma mater, San José State University, in California.

“It feels really good, like I’ve come full circle,” she said. “I want to go into academia and can’t imagine doing anything else. Part of the reason I want to be a professor is because I’ve had so many amazing mentors along the way.”

Similarly, Fausett has worked with Keebler, who is also her Ph.D. advisor, in the STAR Lab and REACH Lab. She is also a recipient of the Outstanding Graduate Researcher Award. She now intends to apply her skills to cybersecurity.

“My dad works in the cybersecurity field, so I saw a gap that I wanted to fill,” said Fausett, who is from Reston, Virginia.“The idea of applying what we know from psychology to analyze and design systems is really interesting to me.”

“I’m so proud of Crystal,” Keebler said. “Like Jenna, I can always count on her if I need something done. They are both leaders in our department.”