Rifat Ara Tasnim

Rifat Ara Tasnim is a second year PhD student in Computer Science at the University of New Orleans. She is currently working as a research assistant under Dr. Farjana Zebin Eishita in the game lab ‘LIGHT’ at the University of New Orleans. Her main research interest focuses on providing psychological treatment through wearable or handheld devices using serious games. Her current research explores incorporating CBT in video games playable in smartphones. Her primary concern is to implement CBT in a video game to treat young adults who have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She is also working on a digital game to detect different types of cognitive distortions present among the players. 

Rifat holds a B.Sc. in Computer Science and Engineering from Khulna University of Engineering and Technology, Bangladesh. Before starting her PhD journey, she worked as a software engineer in an IT company.

Thien Tran

Thien Tran is a senior Computer Science undergraduate student at the University of New Orleans who hopes to graduate on December, 2021. He is currently working as an Undergraduate Research Assistant under Dr. Farjana Z. Eishita. His current work focuses on converting an Augmented Reality cognitive distortion detection game to Mixed Reality for player experience comparisons between the two platforms.

Residing in and originating from the Westbank of Louisiana, Thien graduated from Archbishop Shaw High School prior to attending the University of New Orleans.