Lab Director

HeeSun Choi, PhD

Dr. Choi is an assistant professor in the Human Factors Program in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Texas Tech University. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in Human Factors and Applied Cognition at North Carolina State University. Prior to joining Texas Tech, she worked in the Division of Safety Research and the Center for Robotics Research at the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). Her research primarily focuses on safety related to attentional impairments and cognitive declines, with particular interests in the older adults and industry worker populations. 

Google Scholar | ResearchGate |LinkedIn

Graduate Students

Daniel Leibman

Daniel joined the Applied Cognition and Safety lab in 2020, received his MA in 2022, and is currently pursuing his PhD in the Human Factors Experimental Psychology. Prior to joining Texas Tech, he received his BA in Psychology from New Mexico State University and worked in both the PACMANe lab with Dr. Igor Dolgov and the Visual Sciences and Memory lab with Dr. Michael Hout. His current research focus is exploring the cognitive effects of human augmentation technologies and their impacts on user safety and performance in industrial workplaces. 

Yves Valentin

Yves joined the Applied Cognition and Safety lab in 2021 and is currently pursuing his PhD in the Human Factors Experimental Psychology. He was born and raised in Miami, Florida, and received a B.S. in psychology at UCF and worked in the ACAT lab under the guidance of Dr. Valerie Sims. His research interest focuses on Human-Robot interaction, wearable robots, industrial workforce safety, and aging. Yves received his Master's degree in 2023 and is now working towards his PhD at Texas Tech and hopes to make an impact in the world in the future. 

CV |LinkedIn

Thi D. Le

Thi joined the Applied Cognition and Safety lab in 2023 and is currently pursuing her PhD in the Human Factors Experimental Psychology. Prior to joining Texas Tech, she received her BS degree in Psychology from the University of Oklahoma and a MS in Human Factors from the University of Idaho. Thi aims to apply research to solve real-world problems, especially those related to human performance, decision-making, and safety issues.

Killian Parker

Killian joined the Applied Cognition and Safety Lab in summer 2024, initially as an undergraduate student. He received his Bachelor of Science in Psychological Sciences from Texas Tech in August 2025 and is now pursuing a PhD in Human Factors Psychology. Killian's current research primarily focuses virtual, augmented, and extended reality. In addition, he is interested in aging research, including exoskeletons and augmented and extended reality. 

Falon Costigan

Falon joined the Applied Cognition and Safety lab in 2025 and is currently pursuing her PhD in the Human Factors Experimental Psychology. Before attending Texas tech University, Falon graduated with her BA in Psychology, with a minor in Criminal Justice, from the University of Mount Olive in North Carolina. Additionally, she received her MA in Psychology from Stephen F. Austin State University, where she worked in both the Brain and Behavior Research Laboratory with Dr. Nathan Sparkman, and the SACK Laboratory with Dr. Steven Estrada. Her research interests focus on Artificial Intelligence, Human Augmentation, Prosthetics, and Exoskeletons.

Aven Tweed

Aven joined the lab in Fall 2025 as an Accelerated Master's student. He will be working on research projects that aim to develop and validate engaging, ecologically-valid XR-based attention assessment and training tools. Upon successful completion, he will receive a B.A. in Psychology in 2026, followed by a M.A. in Experimental Psychology with concentration in Human Factors in 2027. 

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Undergraduate Students

David Price since 2024 Fall

David is a second-year undergraduate student majoring in psychology, with a minor in history. David currently assists with the research investigating weather-related risk perceptions and safety behaviors. David's future research interest is in how music and sleep can affect neurological development and assist with memory retention.

Derick Huynh since 2025 Fall

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Staff

Mark T. Dannemiller
Fall 2023 - current

Programmer
Undergraduate Student | Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering
CAD Specialist, Autrey Engineering, LLC
Owner/Manager, Darkon Design LLC

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Alumni

Graduate Students

Daxton Mitchell, M.A.

Daxton is an Associate UX Researcher at PlayStation. He was a graduate student member of the lab from 2019 - 2022 and received his MA in the Human Factors Experimental Psychology program in 2022.

Kat Moffis, M.A.

Kat is an Associate Research at Daito Design. She was a graduate student member of the lab from 2020 - 2024 and earned her MA in the Human Factors Experimental Psychology program in 2022.

Sahar Khanpour, M.A.

Sahar graduated from Texas Tech with her MA in Human Factors Experimental Psychology in 2025. She received their Bachelors of Science in Family Social Science, Bachelor of Arts in Religious Studies and minor in Child Development at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. 

Undergraduate Students

Kendal Hampton-Hogue (January 2023 - May 2025) 
Christian Hernandez (August 2023 - May 2025)
Hannah Winter (August - December 2024)
John Hannah (August 2023 - May 2024)
Connor Martinez (August 2023 - May 2024)
Farjaad Azam (August 2021 - May 2023)
Alejandra Fernandez-Reyes (August 2022 - May 2023)
Joseph Martinez (January 2021 - May 2022)
Jessa Bulman (February 2022 - May 2022)
Neiddy Rodriguez (August 2021 - May 2022)
Gabriel Warren (Summer 2021)
Julieanne Cherukara (August 2020 - April 2021)
Giang Nguyen (August 2020 - December 2020)
Hannah Agner (January 2020 - August 2020)
Andrew Chu (January 2020 - May 2020)

Prior Lab Engineers / Technical Staff

Gabriel Simiyu (Aug 2022 - Dec 2023)
Brian Crane (Intern; Spring - Summer, 2023)
Barbara Sopngwi (Aug 2021 - Jan 2022)
Bharath Poreddy (Apr - May 2021)