Applications
Mobile, web, and desktop apps; participant portals; digital interventions; cognitive assessments; and study dashboards.
Hi, I’m Andrew.
Research Engineer
I design and build the software behind research studies, from participant-facing applications to data infrastructure, AI-assisted workflows, and immersive XR experiments.
Research engineering & technical collaboration across
Penn State
Weill Cornell Medicine
Florida State University
University of Central Florida
Software behind the study
Data & backend
Databases, APIs, authentication, cloud deployment, longitudinal pipelines, automated exports, and reporting.
AI & automation
Participant support, adherence systems, evaluation tools, and automation for research operations and analysis.
XR & immersive research
VR and mixed reality environments, interactive experimental tasks, spatial interfaces, and behavioral instrumentation.
Experience
Research Engineering (Contract)
CurrentPenn State · Jun 2026–Present
- Developing participant-facing software and data infrastructure for NIH-funded digital health research.
- Building research data tools, automated exports, and AI-supported adherence workflows.
Next.jsSupabaseData PipelinesLLM AgentsDigital Health
Research Engineering (Contract)
CurrentFSU College of Medicine · Jul 2026–Present
- Building participant-facing software for NIH-funded intervention research.
- Developing study pipelines and LLM-supported adherence tools.
Full-StackResearch PlatformsData PipelinesLLM Agents
Co-Founder & Research Lead
CurrentCogmi · Sep 2024–Present
- Founded a cognitive performance platform; raised $200K, scaled to 700+ users and 6,000+ assessments across consumer, B2B, and government verticals.
- Designed gamified cognitive micro-assessments (Stroop, N-back, task-switching) preserving psychometric validity while improving engagement.
Next.jsTypeScriptPostHogSupabaseVercelAI AgentsPsychometricsBehavioral TelemetryUX ResearchA/B TestingMachine Learning
Associate Research Fellow
CurrentU.S. Army Research Institute · Oct 2023–Present
- Designed and built a rare-target visual search task in Unreal Engine 5 to study human–AI decision-making under operational constraints.
- Engineered a webcam-based eye-tracking system capturing real-time behavioral and biometric data for cognitive performance analysis.
Unreal EngineC++PythonEye-TrackingVRHuman FactorsMixed-MethodsComputer VisionUser InterviewsTechnical Writing
Projects & experiments
Warhammer AR
View project & demo ↗WebXRMeta Immersive Web SDKSpatial interaction
A virtual 40k board over a real table. Move the board into place and use terrain layouts to set up a game without measuring every position by hand.
FORK’D
View project & demo ↗Next.jsSupabaseLLMMCPMeta Display
Import recipes from social posts and web pages, then cook with step-by-step instructions in your glasses. Talk to the assistant while your hands are busy.
Room-scale horror
View project & demo ↗WebXRMeta Immersive Web SDKRoom sensing
An experiment in turning a real living room into a playable horror level. Exploring room geometry, occlusion, lighting, and enemy movement through the Quest browser.
AR drum visualizer
View project & demo ↗WebXRMeta QuestSpatial interfaces
Drum notation brought into the space around a kit. A browser-based AR prototype that puts visual cues where you play.
Publications
25 peer-reviewed publications — 5 journal articles · 8 book chapters · 10 conference papers · 2 theses.
A Pilot Study Exploring Age Differences in Presence, Workload, and Cybersickness in the Experience of Immersive Virtual Reality Environments
Dilanchian AT, Andringa R, Boot WR
Frontiers in Virtual Reality · 2021
VRHuman FactorsAgingStatistical AnalysisExperimental DesignSurvey Design
Motivation to Engage in Aging Research: Are There Typologies and Predictors?
Carr DC, Tian S, He Z, Chakraborty S, Dieciuc M, Gray N, Agharazidermani M, Lustria MLA, Dilanchian A, Zhang S
The Gerontologist · 2022
Behavioral ScienceAgingSurvey DesignStatistical AnalysisMixed-Methods
Using Immersive Virtual Reality to Enhance Social Interaction Among Older Adults: A Cross-Site Investigation
Kalantari S, Xu TB, Mostafavi A, Kim B, Dilanchian A, Lee A, Boot WR, Czaja SJ
Innovation in Aging · 2023
VRSocial ComputingAgingUX ResearchExperimental DesignMixed-Methods
Education
Ph.D., Cognitive Psychology
Florida State University · 2020 – 2024
M.S., Cognitive Psychology
Florida State University · 2020 – 2023
B.A., Computer Science (Honors, Magna Cum Laude)
Florida State University · 2015 – 2020
B.S., Psychology (Honors, Magna Cum Laude)
Florida State University · 2015 – 2020