Engineering Design

RACHANA RANADE

*** ***** ****** . *** * . West Lafayette, IN 47906 .

*******.******@*****.*** . 765-***-****

URL: http://webstarts.com/MySiteRachana

OBJECTIVE

To obtain a full-time position that will enable me to use my inter-personal

skills and expertise in the field of usability to improve user satisfaction

and performance in human computer interaction.

SUMMARY

. 2.5 years of experience in usability analysis, user experience, interface

designer, user interface.

. Solid understanding in User-centered methodology (UCD) and product design

and development.

. Excellent in gathering user requirements using UI technology and

developing creative design concepts and visualization using wireframes,

screen flow, work flow and prototypes.

. Experienced in creating personas, user scenarios, user profiles and story

boards.

. Experience in conducting usability testing using eye-tracker, and through

methods such as heuristic evaluation, cognitive walk through, Talk aloud

protocol

. Experienced in designing product/website that is user friendly and cost-

effective.

. Working knowledge of UI technologies such as HTML, XHTML and CSS.

. Good understanding of visual design skills as per W3C standards.

. Working knowledge of using Photoshop and Dreamweaver in developing UI.

. Experience in transforming user needs into User Interface prototypes

using a various techniques and software's.

. Good team player, sincere, enthusiastic and highly motivated with

positive attitude.

. Experienced in team leadership and ability to multitask.

EDUCATION

Clemson University, Clemson, SC

Dec 2009

Masters of Science in Industrial Engineering

GPA: 3.70/4.00

The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, Vadodara, India

June 2005

Bachelors of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering

GPA: 3.85/4.00

GRADUATE PROJECTS

Identifying optimal information visualization designs for mobile devices

using eye-tracking

The research was conducted to identify optimal designs that can be adopted

while using line graphs and pie charts for information visualization on an

Apple iPhone .

. Created stimuli using Adobe Photoshop.

. Conducted sessions on 15 participants for collecting data on Tobii Eye-

tracker.

. Analyzed the data using statistical software SPSS and Microsoft Excel.

Usability Analysis and Crew Assessment - Copier Evaluation

The purpose of the project is to improve the interface for a multi-

functional copier machine, which is generally used for making copies,

scanning, and printing.

. Identified needs from the customers by creating user profiles, personas

and conducted interviews with the users by creating scenarios.

. Conducted task analysis to understand the system and information flow.

. Performed discount usability method i.e. heuristic evaluation technique

and cognitive walkthrough to identify potential problems with the design

of user interface.

. Created paper prototypes using story board, brainstorming sessions with

the team members and re-iterated based on user testing.

. Conducted usability test such as think aloud protocol (TAP), scenario

based testing and questionnaires on the final product to test the

usability of the interface.

Design of Human-Computer Systems - Creative Inquiry Website Improvement

Mission was to design the website of Creative Inquiry (CI) for Clemson

University's Industrial Engineering Department.

. Gathered customer needs, conducted need analysis based on the interviews

with the client and created personas.

. Collected benchmarking data by conducted extensive market analysis.

. Managed the creative aspect of the project such as visualization and

conceptualization.

. Created several mockups using paper prototypes, Dreamweaver, Adobe

Photoshop and HTML/CSS prototypes for website information architecture and

navigation.

. Finalized the contents of the menu for the website based on user needs by

using card sorting techniques.

. Worked closely with clients and followed web usability rules to convert

the documents in effective web content and to improve search optimization.

. Designed and developed the WebPages from gathering need statements to

final website using Dreamweaver, HTML, and CSS.

. Followed web2.0 standards and W3C rules for the website designed.

. Conducted compatibility tests across different browsers.

. Conducted usability tests to improve user experience and to ensure the

usability of the final website.

Design & Analysis of Human-Machine Systems - Redfern Patient Tracking

Improvement

Mission was to improve the current tracking process for Health Center and

make it more efficient.

. Designed and developed automated excel sheet for maintaining patients

records for Redfern Health Center.

. Identified customer needs by conducting focus groups, face-to-face

interviews and surveys with the clients and performed need analysis.

. Conducted market analysis and research to collect competitive

benchmarking data.

. Created detailed conceptual diagrams, visual mockups, wireframes based on

user needs.

. Applied concept screening technique to come up with the best concept.

. Designed prototypes in various forms including drawings, Adobe Photoshop

mock-ups.

. Used card sorting technique to define information architecture of the

product.

. Customized the final product by working closely with the clients to

satisfy customer requirements.

. Refined the product by conducting usability tests to validate design and

functionality and to increase the user satisfaction and make it efficient.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Clemson, SC

Jan 2008 - Dec 2009

Physics and Astronomy Department, Clemson University

. Conducted weekly undergraduate physics lab which involved assisting

students to perform the experiments, teaching, grading, preparing quizzes

and proctoring.

. Gathered a title of Group leader for the lab which involved teaching and

assisting new TA.

Summer Intern, Houston, TX May

2008 - Aug 2008

Baker Hughes Incorporated (BHI), Division-Mechanical Reliability and Life

Management

. Identified critical features - failure location, mode/ mechanism for BHI

tool.

. Automated the time-depth profile synchronization between memory data and

surface data gathered from BHI tool in Matlab.

Lead Engineer (Layouts), Vadodara, India

July 2005 - Aug 2007

ALSTOM, Division-Balance of Plant (BOP)

. Prepared flow diagrams and designed piping layouts using AutoCAD and

recommended changes in process and procedures gaining 10% increase in

overall productivity and 2% decrease in manpower.

. Generated Bill of Quantity (BOQ) and performed cost analysis resulting in

12% improvement in associated cost reductions.

. Created and implemented Material Master (MM) logic for ERP software SAP

. Led an engineering team of 5 members and delivered the project on-time

and within budget.

. Prepare various reports and presentations for Operational and Executive

Management.

. Collaborated with vendors and worked with cross functional team including

engineering, purchase and project management to establish baseline

performance and work standards.

. Aided in implementing 5S and won the best 5S volunteer award

RESEARCH

Graduate thesis: "Effectiveness of team-building and team work in real and

virtual worlds"

. Developed a virtual class room for team training in Second Life.

. Conductedcross cultural team-building training sessions for 90

participants.

. Performed descriptive statistics,univariate analyses, hypothesis testing

and cost benefit analysis on the data using SPSS.

Undergraduate thesis: "Embedded Controller for Polar Robot Arm with

Pneumatic Muscles"

. Devised a mobile robot arm with a spherical polar work envelope that was

actuated using pneumatic power instead of the conventional stepper motors.

. Created cost effective pneumatically powered robot as compared to its

electrical and hydraulically actuated counterparts, provided smooth and

rapid point-to-point movement leading to reduction of overall handling

times.

. Designed a dedicated micro-controller for the robot arm that provided

mobility, ease of controls and independence from a macro computer console.

PUBLICATION

. Ranade, R., Greenstein, J.S. (2010). Effectiveness of Team-Building and

Teamwork in Real and Virtual Worlds. In Proceedings of the Human Factors

and Ergonomics Society 54th Annual Meeting, San Francisco (In

publication).

HONORS

. Best Technical Paper at Footprints 2005 - A National level inter-college

technical conference.

Topic: "Embedded Controller for Polar Robot Arm with Pneumatic Muscles."

. Best Working Model - "Water Rockets" at Footprints 2005.

Developed a hydro-pneumatically propelled low altitude short range rocket.

PRESENTATIONS

. "An application of user centered design methodology to design a health

care software" by Rachana Ranade, Vikas Vadlapadla, Denzil Jeykumar.

Presented at the 7th Industrial Engineering Research Poster Competition,

Clemson University, April 8 - 10, 2009.

. "Effectiveness of team-building and teamwork in real and virtual worlds."

by Rachana Ranade. Presented at the 7th Industrial Engineering Research

Poster Competition, Clemson University, April 8 - 10, 2009.

ACTIVITIES

. Member of Organizing Committee of FOOTPRINTS-2002, 2003.

. Managed the overall events of a national level technical

competition.

. Developed and implemented strategies for student participation and

fund raising for the event.

. Member of the Editorial Committee for Faculty Magazine as well as the

Mechanical Engineering Department Magazine (M.S. University of Baroda) and

college website development team.

. Member of AID (Association for India's Development) - Clemson Chapter.

COMPUTER SKILLS

General: Basics of Hardware and Networking, Dreamweaver, Photoshop,

Microsoft Expression.

Languages: C/ C++, FORTRAN, Basic programming skills of Java, Scilab,

Matlab, HTML, CSS.

Engineering specific: AutoCAD, ERP Package SAP R/3 (MM & BOQ), AFT Fathom,

Minitab, Wiebull, SPSS, Programming in Auto lisp, Basic knowledge of Pro-E,

ANSYS.

COURSE WORK

Human Factors Engineering, Design and Analysis of Human-Machine Interface,

Design of Human-Computer Interface, Usability Evaluation and Crew

Assessment, Eye Tracking Methodology and Applications, Engineering

Optimization and Application, Manufacturing Systems Planning and Design,

Quality Engineering, Probability and Statistics, Technology

Entrepreneurship.

Contact this candidate