Maria-Teresa Carmier Villalobos

Bio

I’m Maria-Teresa Carmier (Kahr-me-A), an A/R/Tographist (Artist, Educator, and Researcher) and aspiring polyglot (working on a 4th language). Over the past five years, I have impacted hundreds of pre-K to 5th-grade students with experiences bridging art to their learning, working for the Los Angeles Unified School District while studying Fine Arts as an undergraduate at Mount Saint Mary’s University. In 2022, I graduated with a master’s in Innovation and Entrepreneurship from The Paul Merage School of Business at UC Irvine, where I focused on building my research interests and the business side of tech. Curious about users, play-based learning, and linguistics, I applied to the Mdes program to experiment with and explore how play impacts learning and to develop my technical skills. My north stars are my sons, who constantly invite me to remain playful and curious about the world. I believe user experience is essential to good design, and through the lens of relational theory, I aim to create meaningful and delightful experiences with my work.