Welcome to The Experience Project

Armen Berjikly graduated with honors with a Bachelors in Computer Science from Stanford University. His primary research focus was Human-Computer Interaction, where he worked closely with professor Clifford Nass, author of the ground-breaking HCI work, The Media Equation. Later, he went on to obtain a Master's Degree in Management Science and Engineering, also at Stanford, with an emphasis on Organizations, Technology and Entrepreneurship. Armen was also a Mayfield Fellow, a prestigious fellowship that provides intensive training in entrepreneurship for those with an engineering background.

Armen helmed numerous successful internet startups in the past, including FileDemon-- the first meta-search engine for files, Do Everything-- the first comparison music shopping engine, and multiple online patient health communities designed to sponsor hope through research and community.

Armen's passion is building technology that unites people who can help each other. The Experience Project is the crown jewel of his projects, combining the skills and wisdom garnered in the past into a platform that will benefit the lives of millions in the future.

For a little more on Armen's thoughts around building Experience Project, please check out this lecture he gave at a Stanford seminar.

Neil Sheth graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelors in Computer Systems Engineering and a Masters in Management Science and Engineering. Neil is a veteran of Silicon Valley, having worked as a test design engineer at Microsoft, a resident at IBM's Almaden Research Center, a software engineer at ComGlobal Systems, and a senior research associate at Accenture's Technology Labs. Neil's passions include application of machine learning techniques to problems in text data analysis methods, as well as the creation of virtual communities.

A modern-day nomad, Julio hails originally from Brazil but spent his entire life moving around and perfecting the role of the new kid in school. Julio briefly settled in Philly where he graduated from Penn with a business degree but quickly moved to New York to pursue a career as a management consultant. Tired of the New York bustle, Julio moved out West to attend business school at Stanford. At Stanford Julio worked with startups in the digital media and mobile spaces, while simultaneously working on his own educational software venture and launching the #1 podcast on innovation and entrepreneurship. When he's not chugging a Diet Coke at EP, Julio can be found pursuing his love of cooking and photography.

Angela studied Electrical Engineering at the University of Maryland at College Park, receiving a BS degree. She works at EP because she is inspired by the meaningful communities it creates. She feels these are connections that our "real life" society is missing sometimes. The socially conscious nature of EP drew her in initially and continues to drive her enthusiasm for the one's and zero's each day. When asked about what she does with the company, she says: "I spend my time improving user experience and various business needs through programming. How do you make this sound beautiful?" She is a strong proponent of environmental causes. Her hobbies include dancing and swimming.

Erica is in her second year at UC Berkeley, studying engineering. She heard about Experience Project through the Society for Women in Engineering and became interested in the mission of the site. Rather than focus on the engineering side of development, Erica decided to instead focus on the community of the site and now works with developers to discover how to best expand the site to serve and enhance the community.

Lucas Ryan graduated from Stanford University in 2001 with a degree in Philosophy where his primary interest was in questions related to artificial intelligence. Shortly after graduating, Lucas joined the Stanford network security startup Voltage Security, where he gained experience in server engineering, applied cryptography, and the innumerable little things it takes to help grow a company from 5 to 50 people. He left Voltage to redevote himself to his passion for studying artificial intelligence, and since then has also worked as a consultant in the areas of web scalability, search, collaborative filtering, and empirical interface optimization.

Sarah graduated from Babson College where she focused her studies on entrepreneurship and marketing strategy. Originally from Cincinnati, Sarah has lived in many US cities including Chicago, Washington DC, Boston, and now San Francisco. Sarah has developed an expertise working with online social networks, having previously held a Senior Marketing Analyst position with CarePages, a Revolution Health Company. She has a deep passion for social work, and has always been involved in the philanthropic and non-profit community. Outside of the office, you can find Sarah scaling rocks at the climbing gym or tramping through Northern California's many hiking trails.

Claribel graduated from Stanford University with a Bachelors degree in Computer Science. During her studies, she interned at several startups here in the Bay Area and also back home in Hawaii. Upon graduation, she joined the Supply Chain Management team at SAP in Palo Alto, working on projects including the flagship Advanced Planning and Optimization application, the Supply Network Collaboration platform, and the Auto-ID Infrastructure for RFID. More recently, she had joined the Custom Development group at SAP working with large partners such as Amgen, Johnson & Johnson and Nike. Claribel has a tremendous passion for programming and improving people's lives through it.

We would also like to acknowledge the contributions of Niary Gorjian, Ph.D. Niary, who obtained her doctorate in consulting psychology, has been instrumental in helping architect the site to ensure that authors reap therapeutic benefits from their contributions.