Recent Speaking Events
XR Design Discord
November 25
Remote
AWE 2023
May 30 - June 2
Santa Clara, CA
Track Chair for Enterprise XR, introducing the speakers and generally overseeing that the production ran smoothly.
Reality School IRL
November 9-14
Chicago, IL
Community Q&A session on my journey as an XR designer and tips for early career designers to work on their own side projects to build their portfolio. Hosted as part of their monthly meetup series on the XR Design Discord.
Workshop leader on the unique design considerations for the metaverse. I discuss why the deep-dive VR shown in pop culture is not the inevitable, sole mode of experience in the metaverse and how we can design for a variety of entry points to make more accessible, useful, and entertaining metaverse experiences.
Past Events & Engagements
Le Moyne College SCORE
Invited Panel Speaker
Syracuse, NY
Invited panel speaker for the SCORE (STEM Community Outreach Research Engagement) led by Dr. Yue Han, which aims to support the growth of high achieving, low-income students through workshops on how to network and find internships/jobs in STEM.
April 2022
MODEX
Trade Show Exhibitor
Atlanta, GA
Trade show engineering exhibitor for launch and hands-on demo of a newly updated VR training solution, the Raymond Virtual Reality Simulator (version 2.0), which runs on the latest HTC Vive Focus 3 VR headset.
March 2022
Toyota Industries R&D Exhibition
Nominated Poster Presenter
Kariya, Japan / Virtual
Poster presentation on my work in advancing VR training to an audience of TICO-affiliated R&D specialists in Japan. (Internal, NDA detail)
December 2021
The Raymond Corp.
Virtual Road Show Presenter
Greene, NY
15-min recorded demonstration and high-level presentation of our latest VR technology for dealership and customer audiences.
December 2021
Dealer Principles Meeting
Technology Demonstration
Jacksonville, FL
Demonstrated Raymond's latest VR innovations to our dealership network of sales professionals.
October 2021
LUMA Projection Arts Festival
Technical Director
Binghamton, NY
Planned, directed, and implemented the site presenting Nevermore by Sila Sveta studio.
September 2021
Careers in Code
Invited AR Workshop
Syracuse, NY
Prepared a special lecture and workshop to introduce web development students to AR technology as part of a state grant funded bootcamp.
May 2021
DATAx Virtual Conference
Invited XR Panel Speaker
New York, NY
Invited panel session speaker on the topic of the future of data collection in the growing XR industry.
November 2020
Hack Upstate XV
Invited Hackathon Speaker
Syracuse, NY
Invited speaker with Joshua Marris for a joint presentation called, "Anyone Can Make a Game! Rapid Prototyping for All" based on our work from the 2020 MIT Reality Hack.
October 2020
The Raymond Corp.
VR Info Session Panelist
Greene, NY
Spoke as the Technical Engineering Lead for VR in a session for students interested in tech job opportunities.
August 2020
Enhance VR
Invited Guest Webinar Speaker
Binghamton, NY
Invited guest speaker on local industry use of VR in training. Specifically, I discussed the Raymond Virtual Reality Simulator teaching tool as part of a full training process for forklift certification.
April 2020
Girls Who Code
Invited Spotlight Speaker
Syracuse, NY
Invited spotlight speaker for the Binghamton University chapter of Girls Who Code, where I talked about my journey to becoming a research engineer in tech.
April 2020
Accelerate Success at Le Moyne College
Invited Panel Speaker
Syracuse, NY
Invited speaker for a women in STEM program as a successful female alumna working in a STEM field, answering questions from students on how to navigate professional life.
March 2020
Syracuse Game Jam
Invited Session Speaker
Syracuse, NY
Invited speaker along with Joshua Marris to give a joint presentation called, "Anyone Can Make a Game! Rapid Prototyping for All" based on our work from the 2020 MIT Reality Hack.
February 2020
Past Media Features
CBS Sunday Morning
LUMA Feature
Binghamton, NY
Feature piece on the projection mapping work of Light Harvest at the LUMA 2021 festival, where I acted as a technical director. Aired on national TV.
Broadcast January 2022
The Raymond Corp.
Employee Spotlight
Greene, NY
Feature article written about my work supporting local technologists and artists as a Technical Director for LUMA. Internal communication.
August 2021
Le Moyne College
Alumni Feature Article
Syracuse, NY
Alumni feature on my journey from college to becoming a research engineer in tech, particularly for virtual reality.
October 2020
Salt City Code
Podcast Guest
Syracuse, NY
Episode entitled, “Melissa Schmitz: A Giant Debugging Rubber Duck” as part of a two episode feature on Salt City Code.
December 2021
Salt City Code
Podcast Guest
Syracuse, NY
Episode entitled, “Melissa Schmitz: From Hackathon Winner to Working Professional” as part of a two episode feature on Salt City Code.
December 2021
Academic Talks
Le Moyne College Natural Science Seminar
Invited Student Speaker
Syracuse, NY
Invited student speaker presenting 30-minute talk on senior physics capstone research in quantum measurement theory to a general scientific audience.
Title: Competing Ideas in Quantum Measurement: The Search for a Perfect “Theory of Everything”
April 2018
Le Moyne College Student Scholar’s Day
Student Speaker / Poster Presenter
Syracuse, NY
Presented a 12-minute oral presentation and poster presentation for my senior capstone research to general scientific audiences (and their families).
Title: Competing Ideas in Quantum Measurement: The Search for a Perfect “Theory of Everything”
April 2018
American Physical Society April Meeting
Student Speaker / Poster Presenter
Columbus, OH
12-minute oral presentation for my senior physics capstone research in quantum measurement theory to an audience of professional physicists. Followed by a poster session on the same topic.
Title: Competing Ideas in Quantum Measurement: The Search for a Perfect “Theory of Everything”
April 2018
American Physical Society March Meeting
Student Speaker
Los Angeles, CA
12-minute oral presentation on my nuclear physics research to an audience of professional physicists.
Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Lithium Carboxylates for Use in Liquid Organic Scintillator
March 2018
American Physical Society Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics
Student Poster Presenter
New York, NY
Poster presentation for my senior capstone research in quantum measurement theory to an audience of student and professional physicists.
Title: Competing Ideas in Quantum Measurement: The Search for a Perfect “Theory of Everything”
January 2018
Women in Physics Canada
Student Poster Presenter (Award)
Waterloo, ON, Canada
Poster presentation for my nuclear physics research to an audience of professional physicists. Won an award for Best Undergraduate Poster.
Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Lithium Carboxylates for Use in Liquid Organic Scintillator
July 2017
Le Moyne College Student Scholar’s Day
Student Speaker (Award)
Syracuse, NY
12-minute oral presentation on my grant-awarded nuclear physics research to general scientific audiences (and their families). Received an honorable mention and featured interview on the college website.
Title: Creating a Liquid Organic Scintillator for Fast Neutron Spectrometry
April 2017
American Physical Society Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics
Student Poster Presenter
Princeton, NJ
Poster presentation for my nuclear physics research to an audience of student and professional physicists.
Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Lithium Carboxylates for Use in Liquid Organic Scintillator
January 2017
American Physical Society Division of Nuclear Physics Annual Meeting
Student Poster Presenter
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Poster presentation for my nuclear physics research to an audience of professional physicists.
Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Lithium Carboxylates for Use in Liquid Organic Scintillator Fast Neutron Spectrometers
November 2016
University of Rochester Undergraduate
Research Day
Student Poster Presenter
Rochester, NY
Poster presentation for my nuclear physics research to an audience of student and professional physicists.
Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Lithium Carboxylates for Use in Liquid Organic Scintillator
October 2016
Le Moyne College Student Scholar’s Day
Student Poster Presenter
Syracuse, NY
Poster presentation for my grant-awarded nuclear physics research to general scientific audiences (and their families).
Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Long-Chain Lithium Carboxylates for Use in Liquid Organic Scintillator Fast Neutron Detectors
April 2016
American Physical Society Conference for Undergraduate Women in Physics
Student Speaker (Award)
Syracuse, NY
5-minute oral presentation on my nuclear physics research to an audience of professional physicists. Won 1st Place Oral Research Presentation award.
Title: Creating a Liquid Organic Scintillator for Fast Neutron Spectrometry
January 2016
Syracuse University Undergraduate Physics Research Day
Student Poster Presenter
Syracuse, NY
Poster presentation for my nuclear physics research to an audience of student and professional physicists.
Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Long-Chain Lithium Carboxylates for Use in Liquid Organic Scintillator Fast Neutron Detectors
December 2015
University of Rochester Undergraduate
Research Day
Student Poster Presenter
Rochester, NY
Poster presentation for my nuclear physics research to an audience of student and professional physicists.
Title: Synthesis and Characterization of Long-Chain Lithium Carboxylates for Use in Liquid Organic Scintillator Fast Neutron Detectors
October 2015
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