Anna Cavender is a senior at the University of Oregon. She will receive her Bachelor's degree in Computer and Information Science in June 2004.

Anna's research is in human-computer interaction. Her research combines intellectual challenge with an extraordinary commitment to public service. Her time and efforts have been dedicated to research that opens up the creative and scientific world for those who are currently locked out through gender inequality or physical impairments. Anna first contributed to a project on computer games aimed at countering the social pressures that turn middle-school girls away from mathematics and computers. She was the primary programmer with a group of eight art students.

She is now taking a leading role in a life-changing project to enable profoundly paralyzed children to draw pictures with their eyes. Anna's leadership in the project has involved not only the technical work, such as recognizing "pen up" and and "pen down" gestures with only eye motion as input, but also in integrating research on the role and progression of artistic expression in children's development. One paper on this project has already been submitted and two more are in preparation, and the research results will be the subject of a patent application.

Anna was awarded the Erwin and Gertrude Juilfs Academic Scholarship, a CSEM scholarship, and a research assistantship. She currently works as a database administrator for the Department of Computer and Information Science.

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