João de Mendonça Salim
Interactive Designer · Creative Technologist · AI Researcher
🗺️ Journey
Drag or swipe to explore my path, from Brazil to UCF and beyond.
Born in Brazil
Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
First Video Game
Pokemon Red on a Game Boy Color Grape. How it all started.
Started A.A. | Seneff Honors Program
Valencia College
Began higher education in the Seneff Honors Program at Valencia College.
Bandit
Adopted Bandit, a loyal companion through the journey.
A.A. Completed | General Studies (Honors)
Valencia College
Graduated from the Seneff Honors Program.
Uprooting Prejudice | Student Curator
Holocaust Memorial Resource & Education Center
Joined the Student Curatorial Team at HMREC, contributing to the Uprooting Prejudice interactive exhibit. Designed a physical installation where visitors push through panels labeled with forms of prejudice. Credited alongside Ralph Appelbaum Associates. Received an Excellent evaluation.
Started B.A. in Digital Media
University of Central Florida
Began undergraduate studies in digital media and interactive systems.
Petrópolis Flooding Disaster
Devastating floods and landslides struck Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, João's hometown. This tragedy became the driving inspiration behind the ARCA thesis project on collaborative disaster management.
Quest Me | UI/UX Concept
UCF
Designed a mobile app concept in Figma for randomized user quests.
Stark Vehicles (Newt Mobility) | Full-Time
Stark Vehicles
Joined as 3D Printing Engineer, UI Designer, and Frontend Developer. Built web apps, managed 3D printing lab of 10+ printers, designed marketing materials. Worked through May 2025.
Distinguished Recognition for Commitment to Action
Clinton Global Initiative University, Vanderbilt University
Received the Distinguished Recognition for Commitment to Action award from the Clinton Global Initiative for ARCA, a collaborative disaster management mobile platform. Presented at the CGI U annual meeting at Vanderbilt University.
Adam T. Lee Endowed Scholarship
UCF
Awarded the Adam T. Lee Endowed Scholarship in Digital Media Excellence.
Undergraduate Thesis | Collaborative Disaster Management
UCF, Thesis Chair: Adam J. Parrish
"Exploring the Diffusion Potential of a Collaborative Mobile Platform for Disaster Management and Relief", published on UCF STARS repository, inspired by the 2022 Petrópolis flooding. 103 downloads.
ARCA | Figma Prototype
UCF
Developed ARCA as a complementary Figma prototype to the undergraduate thesis, a mobile app concept for collaborative disaster management and community relief coordination.
Research Assistant | Dr. Sercan Sengun
UCF (Pro Bono)
Researching intersections of games, AI, ethics, and digital culture. Exploring how emerging technologies reshape creative practice and scholarly labor.
B.A. Completed
University of Central Florida
Graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Web Development and Interactive Media.
Creative Coding Projects
UCF, Professor Mosher
Built Vista Page, NonSense Games, Quantum Quest, and HOLD 404, exploring satire, game design, and digital endurance through p5.js.
DTO Project | City of Orlando
City of Orlando, Dept. of Tourism
Submitted an interactive sensory installation application for downtown Orlando storefronts using creative coding.
Red Manifest
Gothic interactive fiction game built in Ink with procedural audio and mobile-compatible HTML deployment.
Peer Reviewer | ACM Games Research and Practice
ACM
Serving as a peer reviewer for Games Research and Practice, ACM's journal on game studies and interactive systems.
Started M.A. in Digital Media
University of Central Florida
Began graduate studies with a Dean Fellowship. Research focus on games, AI, ethics, and education.
Graduate Teaching Assistant
UCF, Nicholson School
Supporting undergraduate digital media courses through instructional assistance, student mentoring, and technical guidance.
Maker Space Workshops
UCF
Developed and taught public workshops on resin printing and model painting, reducing barriers to technology access.
Tall2Ride
Created a theme park ride height checker covering 1,154 rides at 101 parks globally.
Florida Drive Easy© | Founded
Founded and launched a multilingual DMV exam prep platform with Google Ads, Stripe, and SEO across 4 languages.
DIRT | Disaster Image Recognition & Triage
Building a multi-phase deep learning system for disaster detection: flood segmentation (U-Net++), road damage detection (YOLOv8), and scene classification.
iLRN 2026 | Conference Attended
iLRN, Greece
"Cataloging the World Exhibition: A Living Survey of Physical World Representations in Videogames" presented at the International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network in Athens and published as an extended abstract in the proceedings.
ACM Journal Article | Special Issue on Game Advertising
ACM Games Research and Practice
"Community Contextualization of Mobile Game Ads Through YouTube Essays" published in ACM Games: Research and Practice, Special Issue on Game Advertising.
Frontiers | Journal Article Accepted
Frontiers in Computer Science
"A Graduate Student Perspective on AI Augmentation, Ethics, and the Emergence of the Academic Cyborg" accepted for publication in Frontiers in Computer Science.
ICFA 2026 | Algorithmic Oracle
International Conference on the Fantastic in the Arts, Orlando
Publicly demonstrated and presented S.O.C.R.A.T.E.S. — The Algorithmic Oracle at ICFA 2026 in Orlando. The interactive installation was experienced live by conference attendees.
Spark STEM Fest 2026 | Project Showcase
Orlando Science Center, UCF Office of Research
Interactive particle text installation showcased at Spark STEM Fest at the Orlando Science Center, representing UCF's creative coding and digital media research.
ELO 2026 | Electronic Literature Organization
University of Central Florida (Online)
Accepted to ELOnline 2026, themed "(Un)Supervised", exploring supervision in digital contexts, LLMs, electronic literature, and computational creativity. July 15–18, 2026.
UCF Student Scholar Symposium
University of Central Florida
Presented research at UCF's annual Student Scholar Symposium, showcasing graduate-level work in digital media, AI, and interactive systems.
UI Developer Intern
University of Florida College of Medicine
Building reusable React components for a shared shadcn/ui library and analytics dashboard views for the Office of Research.
Featured in UCF College of Sciences News
UCF College of Sciences
Recognized in "Digital Media M.A. Students Earn Recognition for Research and Creative Work" for the ACM journal article, the iLRN paper, and acceptance to ELO 2026.
Meaningful Play 2026 | FADE Accepted
Meaningful Play, Pittsburgh
FADE, a platformer about grief built in p5.js, accepted to the Games and Prototypes exhibition at Meaningful Play 2026 (October 13 to 15).
Graduate Teaching Associate | Instructor of Record
UCF, Nicholson School
Promoted from Graduate Teaching Assistant. Teaching my own courses for the first time: DIG 3480 Computer as a Medium (Unity and C#) and DIG 3175 Design for Accessibility and Engagement.
Drag or swipe to explore the timeline
About
Background
Creative technologist and human-centered design practitioner with expertise in interactive experience design, narrative systems, and applied artificial intelligence. M.A. Digital Media candidate at the University of Central Florida with peer-reviewed publications in games research and AI ethics. Currently instructor of record for two undergraduate courses at UCF and a UI Developer Intern at the University of Florida College of Medicine, building React components and analytics dashboards.
Experience shipping products across platforms, including a , a , and . Skilled in full-stack development, UX design, and building interactive systems from concept to launch.
International student from Brazil and first-generation graduate student. Research and creative practice explore ethical technology, community resilience, and public education, motivated by the 2022 Petrópolis disaster and a commitment to building digital systems that support human understanding and collective care.
Skills & Tools
💻 Programming & Frameworks
🤖 AI & Machine Learning
🎨 Design & Prototyping
🎮 3D & Game Engines
📊 Product & Marketing
🌱 Currently Learning
Education
2019 – 2021
Associate of Arts in General Studies (Honors)
Valencia College, Seneff Honors Program
2022 – 2024
Bachelor of Arts in Digital Media
University of Central Florida
- Honors Undergraduate Thesis (UCF STARS)
- Adam T. Lee Endowed Scholarship in Digital Media Excellence
2025 – 2027
Master of Arts in Digital Media
University of Central Florida
- Dean's Fellowship Recipient · GPA: 4.0
- Graduate Teaching Associate, Instructor of Record: DIG 3480 Computer as a Medium, DIG 3175 Design for Accessibility and Engagement (Fall 2026)
- Research Assistant under Dr. Sercan Sengun
- Thesis: AI, cognitive ethics, and academic identity in digital culture
📡 What I'm Working On
Current focus areas and active projects
Teaching at UCF
Instructor of record for DIG 3480 Computer as a Medium (Unity and C#) and DIG 3175 Design for Accessibility and Engagement
UI Development Internship
Building reusable React components and analytics dashboards for the University of Florida College of Medicine
Thesis Research
Investigating AI augmentation, cognitive ethics, and the emergence of the academic cyborg in digital culture
DIRT Framework
Building a multimodal deep learning pipeline for real-time humanitarian disaster response
FADE at Meaningful Play
Preparing my grief platformer for the Meaningful Play 2026 game exhibition in Pittsburgh, October 13 to 15
Last updated September 2026
🚀 Projects
Selected work across development, research, and creative practice.
🏅 Awards & Recognition
Fellowships, scholarships, and honors
Dean's Fellowship
University of Central Florida
2025
Commitment to Action — Clinton Global Initiative University
Vanderbilt University
2023
Adam T. Lee Endowed Scholarship in Digital Media Excellence
University of Central Florida
2024
Seneff Honors College Scholar
Valencia College
2019 – 2021
Peer Reviewer — ACM Games Research and Practice
Association for Computing Machinery
2025
📚 Research & Publications
Academic work exploring games, AI, ethics, and digital culture.
ACM Games: Research and Practice, Special Issue on Game Advertising
International Conference of the Immersive Learning Research Network (iLRN) · Extended abstract, Athens, Greece
A Graduate Student Perspective on AI Augmentation, Ethics, and the Emergence of the Academic Cyborg
Frontiers in Computer Science
UCF STARS Repository, Undergraduate Thesis · 103 downloads
Get in Touch
Let's work together.
Open to collaborations, research discussions, and new opportunities. Reach out anytime.