Our Team & Community

Meet the leaders, advisors, and research fellows dedicated to making social robotics accessible, open, and impactful.

Leadership Team

Guiding the organizational direction, product engineering, and nonprofit initiatives at Peerbots.

Saad Elbeleidy

Saad Elbeleidy

Executive Director & Board Member

Saad completed his PhD in Computer Science researching Human-Robot Interaction with the MIRRORLab at the Colorado School of Mines. Saad researched how to design tools for people to more effectively control robots and is working on Peerbots implementing much of those research findings and continuing its presence in the research space. Aside from his educational background, Saad has worked with various startups in renewable energy, e-commerce, social media analytics, and natural language processing.
John Choi

John Choi

Board Member, Treasurer, Founder & Lead Developer

John is the lead app developer and Treasurer of Peerbots. Having graduated with a degree in Computer Science and Art from Carnegie Mellon University in 2017, John specializes in rapidly prototyping hardware and software for experimental cutting edge technologies in AR/VR/MR, robotics, telepresence, AI and everything in between. John is also the Founder and CEO of Choitek LLC, an educational robotics technology company in Pittsburgh, PA.
Dan Liu

Dan Liu

Board Member, Design & User Experience

Dan is leading the product design and user experience design of Peerbots. As a graduate student at University of Colorado Boulder's Creative Technology and Design program, she is passionate about empathizing with users and incorporating their stories and needs. She is a creative designer who advocates for empowering and intuitive concepts. She has long-established design history working closely with users, non-profit organizations, researchers, and developers.
Tess Lojacono

Tess Lojacono

Board Member

Tess is CEO of Fine Art Miracles, Inc. and a member of the Peerbots Board of Directors. She supports Peerbots' community development and user feedback.
Flannery Currin

Flannery Currin

Board Member

Flannery is an Assistant Professor in the Computer Science department at Denison University. She has a bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Psychology from Earlham College and a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Iowa. Her research is in the area of Human-Computer Interaction, with a special focus on supporting children's play and learning. She is interested in developing accessible and socially responsible technologies with and for young children and people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Aubrey Shick

Aubrey Shick

Founder

Aubrey is the Founder of Peerbots. Aubrey has been developing peer-like robotic teaching assistants to aid in the wellness and education of children with challenges since 2010. Today, open-source derivatives of these Peerbots are used regularly by facilitators and teachers at Fine Art Miracles, Inc., a non-profit based in Pittsburgh, PA. Aubrey has been Executive Director of Peerbots, Research Affiliate in the ATLAS Institute at the University of Colorado Boulder and also continues to serve as Head of Technology and Research at Fine Art Miracles, Inc.

Peerbots Research Fellows

Early career Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) scholars conducting studies and advancing open-source assistive robotics.

Hyunju Kim

Hyunju Kim

2026 Peerbots Research Fellow

Cornell University

Fellowship Focus: Hyunju is replicating and extending HRI work on robot face perception using Vizij.ai - the framework Peerbots is adopting for our free robot faces. Her fellowship work examines how expressive robot faces influence people’s perceptions of robots in interaction, and what these perceptions suggest for the design of robot identities, social cues, and expressive behaviors.

Hyunju Kim is a PhD student in Information Science at Cornell University. Her research sits at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction and Human-Robot Interaction, where she designs and studies telepresence robots, avatars, and Mixed Reality (XR) systems for embodied remote collaboration. Her work explores how remote users can participate in shared physical spaces through proxy bodies, and how embodiments shape people’s experiences in collaboration. Her work has been published in venues including CHI, CSCW, and UIST.

Dylan Thomas Doyle

Dylan Thomas Doyle

2025 Peerbots Research Fellow

University of Colorado Boulder

Fellowship Focus: Dylan conducted a qualitative study examining the adoption of expressive faces, like the Peerbots face, for humanoid robots in industry and academia. Dylan focused on understanding the needs that 'decision-makers' are taking into consideration about the facial expression of the robots they are designing.

Dylan Thomas Doyle is a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder. As an HRI researcher, Dylan's work focuses on values-based design for robots and the impacts of socio-technical contexts on the perception of robot identity. Outside of research, Dylan is the Founder and Executive Director of The All Tomorrows Institute. Dylan received his PhD from the University of Colorado Boulder, Masters of Divinity from Columbia University, and BA from Sarah Lawrence College. Prior to a career in technology research, Dylan served as a Unitarian Universalist minister and hospital chaplain.

Advisory Board

Distinguished leaders advising Peerbots' work.

Molly K. Rearick Day, EdD

Molly K. Rearick Day, EdD

Educational Consultant

Molly was previously Executive Director of Peerbots and is an Educational Consultant; Founding Director and Board Member of IGNITE Collective, Inc.; Adjunct Faculty and Co-Director of the Explorers Program at California State University, Northridge; Adjunct Trainer & Advisory Board Member at Elevatus Training; Board Member & President of MountainQueers, External Advisory Board Member for the Colorado School of Mines Robotics Program; and a qualitative researcher focusing on supported communication.  Molly lives in the Eastern Sierra and enjoys everything outdoorsy.
Sawyer Collins

Sawyer Collins

Research & Development Advisor

Dr. Sawyer Collins graduated from Indiana University Bloomington with a degree in Informatics and is a human-robot interaction researcher who designs robots that help people be happy, healthy, and safe. Focused on accessibility, inclusivity, and creativity, Sawyer’s work centers on socially assistive robots in mental health and on integrating the arts into robotics education. He is especially excited to work with Peerbots to further the arts in robotics education and design, with plans to utilize the Peerbots platform not only in his own classes but also in community centers.
Julie Artigliere Cavalier, Ph.D., CCC/SLP

Julie Artigliere Cavalier, Ph.D., CCC/SLP

Speech-Language Pathologist

Julie Artigliere Cavalier, Ph.D., CCC/SLP is a speech-language pathologist with over thirty years’ experience as a healthcare and education professional. She was the founder of two businesses providing speech pathology services for children and adults with diverse needs in private practice, public schools, and hospitals.  Julie has taught at the graduate level at universities throughout the Front-Range. She is multi-disciplinary team member and leader. Julie has previous experience on several boards including Executive Director of the Rocky Mountain Chapter, Huntington’s Disease Society of America, Board of Trustees Chair, Admissions/Retention Committee for a local private high school and Coolest Women We Know, a technology- focused organization supporting women.
Amy Brooks, M.Ed.

Amy Brooks, M.Ed.

Vocational Rehabilitation Counselor

Amy Brooks, M.Ed., holds a Master’s in Education, specializing in Vocational Rehabilitation Counseling. As an individual born with Cerebral Palsy, along with her professional experience across all environments, Amy has thrived by adapting. She welcomes growth opportunities to educate herself and others in ways that will reflect purpose-driven living. Career highlights for Amy include Graduate Assistant Transition Coordinator for Kent State University’s Center for Innovation Transition and Employment; Independent Living Skills Summer Camp Director and Relationship Education Co-Facilitator for IGNITE Collective, Inc., and Inclusion Specialist for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Santa Barbara County, California. Currently residing in Ohio, Amy provides private tutoring to students in Reading and Language Arts. She also serves on the Advisory Board for Elevatus Training.
Tim Enwall

Tim Enwall

Robotics Entrepreneur

Previously the Head of Misty Robotics, Inc. based in Boulder, CO, we are building the robot that could spark "robots for everyone." Misty Robotics’ vision is to put a robot in every home and office. These robots will be seen and treated as our friends, our teammates, and a part of our families -- performing helpful tasks, providing safety, and interacting with humans in entertaining and friendly ways that have only been seen before in science fiction. We are taking baby steps today towards this vision with the Misty II - the world's first professional platform robot targeted at software developer(s) building robot solutions/apps (that will end up in an app marketplace for all to consume) and schools who want to teach the next generation about the AI/Robot revolution (i.e. the next revolution after the Industrial Revolution).​
Jason Lynch

Jason Lynch

Legal Expert

Jason Lynch is the Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of Foundry, a venture capital firm based in Boulder, Colorado. Prior to joining Foundry, Jason was a partner at Davis, Graham, & Stubbs, one of Denver’s leading law firms, and he began his legal career in New York at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz. He previously served as the Chair of the Board of Directors of the Temple Grandin School, which serves middle and high school students on the autism spectrum.
Yasser Nadeem

Yasser Nadeem

Senior Data Analyst & Tech Consultant

Yasser is a senior data analyst at a Fortune 25 healthcare company supporting members of an ACA marketplace insurance plan. Prior to working in the data/tech sphere, Yasser spent over 7 years volunteering and then working as a therapist with autistic children. During this time, Yasser developed a strong passion for finding the best possible therapy solutions, often using an iPad and experimenting with different apps. Yasser is also very excited about utilizing the latest technologies to help develop beautiful, responsive websites for non-profit organizations, like Peerbots, that enable them to carry out their missions. Yasser has a BS in Psychology as well as an MBA from George Mason University.
Lea Anne Paskvalich

Lea Anne Paskvalich

Executive Director, Autism Society of Colorado

Lea Anne Paskvalich is Executive Director of the Autism Society of Colorado, Founder of Next Steps Consulting LLC and the former Director of Admissions and Public Relations for Temple Grandin School in Boulder, Colorado. For the last 20 years she has worked to connect autistic individuals and their families to education, employment, resources and relationships that help them thrive, not just survive.