Staff
Jon Blundell
A Maryland native, Jon Blundell is currently living out the assumption he made at the age of 6, that he would either be working at the Smithsonian, or become an astronaut. He chose the shorter commute. Coming from the world of the preservation trades, Jon found himself at the DPO in 2012 were he focuses on the technical challenges of the department; developing workflows and IT infrastructure to support 3D capture, processing, data management, and delivery to the public. When he’s not uploading the Smithsonian’s collection to the Matrix he can be found playing pinball and tabletop games.
Jamie Cope
Jamie Cope is a computer engineer by trade and entrepreneur at heart with more than 15 years of experience employing skills in usability, data visualization, AR/VR, and simulation across diverse fields such as medicine, biology, education and training, and entertainment. He has developed 3D data pipelines for large-scale model sets and several custom systems for cleaning, storing, and analyzing user-generated data. He is passionate about user-centered design to solve real-world impactful problems. Jamie is the lead developer for the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office 3D Program.
Megan Dattoria-Flores
Meg Dattoria-Flores is a Project Manager and 3D technology advocate in the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office (DPO). Meg joined the Smithsonian with a background in 3D modeling and traditional metalsmithing. After receiving her degree in Interdisciplinary Object Design from Towson University in 2012, she entered the field with Smithsonian Exhibits creating life-like models and engineering artifact mounts for exhibits. In 2015, Meg followed her passion for polygons and joined the DPO's 3D Program. Since then, she finds fulfillment meeting each iconic object and expanding digital access to the Nation's treasures.
Corey DiPietro
Corey DiPietro joined the Digitization Program Office in 2024, as a part of the Informatics team. Corey came from the National Museum of American History, where, as the Collections Information Manager, he managed large scale cultural heritage datasets, complex data projects, and the museum’s collections management system. A graduate of the University of Michigan and George Washington University, Corey’s broad experience in museum collections management, cataloging, registration, and technology helps to bring a holistic approach to informatics projects.
Lindsay Dougan
Lindsay was born and (mostly) raised deep in the heart of in Texas, grew up an Army Brat, and is a first-generation graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. In 2014 she packed up and moved west to Denver, Colorado for graduate school. After earning a Master of Science in Modern Human Anatomy from the University of Colorado at Anschutz, she spent 7 years managing the Digital Research Lab the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. As an accidental vertebrate paleontologist and comparative anatomist with expertise in Computed Tomography modeling, she realized her job is Museum, specifically digitizing museum collections to increase access for researchers and the public. While anatomy and bones are her bread and butter, Lindsay is excited to work with museum specimens from all the Smithsonian units and expand her digitization skills along the way. When not digitizing for the Smithsonian, Lindsay is usually exploring DC with her two kids, nose-deep in a book, hiding behind a camera, or continuing to work with her paleontological research team. Her favorite dinosaur is Stegosaurus, her favorite organ is the brain, and her favorite astronaut is Mae Jemison. https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1232-7353
Eric Maslowski
Eric's passion for all things 3D was kicked-off by a digital brick cow from his youth. Since that pivotal moment he has been captivated by the intentional, and creative, use of technology, wearing many hats in the process (designer, developer, UX, etc.). He has spent the last 20 years demystifying technologies (3D Scanning, VR/AR, 3D Printing, etc.) while building high impact teams/products for academia, research, healthcare, and entertainment. Eric recently joined the DPO team as product lead for Packrat, Smithsonian's system of record for 3D Data.
Erin Mazzei
Erin Mazzei joined the Digitization Program Office in October 2022 to support the Mass Digitization team. After receiving an M.F.A in Photography from the University of Georgia in 2016, she returned to her home state of Texas to put her fifteen plus years of professional photography experience to use at Texas State University as a digital imaging specialist. She has always been enthusiastic about expanding public access to libraries, museums, and digital knowledge, and her passion for the creative possibilities of digitization continues to grow. She also enjoys exploring the great, medium, and small outdoors with a camera in hand and usually remembers to drink enough water.
Jeanine Nault
Jeanine Nault's career in cultural heritage digitization started serendipitously when her work-study job in college had her scanning barcodes and packing boxes in the Digital Conversion Unit for the University of Michigan libraries. While there, she received her undergraduate degrees in Anthropology and English literature, and went on to receive a graduate degree in Museum Studies at the George Washington University here in DC. For more than a decade, she has worked in and managed the digitization programs at the National Anthropological Archives (NMNH), and the Veterans History Project at the Library of Congress. Since coming to DPO in 2018, Jeanine has managed projects ranging from World War I propaganda posters to dragonflies and gold coins. Jeanine believes that increased access to collections allows for richer and more fully realized representations of cultures and ecologies around the world.
Jaap Otte
Jaap Otte assists the Digitization Program Office with developing corporate partnerships and collaborations and has done so at various parts of the Smithsonian for the last decade. Jaap strongly believes that the Smithsonian and corporations have much to offer each other and enjoys developing deep and long-lasting relations for the Smithsonian as a global leader in digitization. Jaap has an MBA from the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin and a joint degree in law and public administration from Leiden University in The Netherlands. A native of The Netherlands, Jaap has lived in the US since 2005. When not at work, Jaap enjoys travel, collecting ceramics and life in general.
Keturah Pratt
Keturah started working with DPO in January 2020, just two months before the pandemic closed the Smithsonian. As the Policy and Analysis Assistant, Keturah works closely with Jessica Warner and Smithsonian staff to measure progress on the digitization of museum, archive, and library assets and to plan digitization and management of digital assets into the future. She also helps facilitate committee meetings and DPO-sponsored events, maintains records, and serves as eagle-eye editor for various DPO communications. In addition to working at DPO, Keturah is teaching and finishing up a PhD in Greek and Latin at Catholic University of America. In her not-so-spare time Keturah enjoys re-enacting various American battles from the 18th to mid-20th centuries, gardening, and running.
Ken Rahaim
Ken's work history in cultural heritage photography, enterprise digital asset management and enterprise level IT solutions have intersected perfectly for his role as the Smithsonian's Mass Digitization Branch Manager. Ken supports the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office's goal of creating a vibrant digitization culture at the Smithsonian, and focuses on increasing the quality and quantity of Smithsonian digital assets by supporting digitization projects, providing technical expertise to the units, leveraging internal and external collaborations, and promoting expertise in mass digitization and workflows.
Vincent Rossi
Vincent Rossi hails from the great state of New Jersey. He has a BFA in sculpture from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia and Graduate level fine art study at Goldsmiths College/University of London, England. In London from 2002-03, Vince made a name for himself working as a sculptor for a special effects company where he created props and costumes for The Royal Opera House, The English National Opera, The Glyndebourne Festival Opera, The English National Ballet, and The Royal Shakespeare Company. From 2004 to 2011, he worked as a sculptor, model maker, and project manager for the Smithsonian's Office of Exhibit Central. Vince produced and managed many Smithsonian exhibits and through successful funding proposals and grants integrated 3D imaging tools and techniques into Smithsonian Exhibit design and fabrication. From 2011 to May 2018, Vince worked as a Senior 3D Program Officer for the Smithsonian's Digitization Program Office (DPO) building 3D capacity and developing 3D workflows. Notable projects included 3D scanning President Barack Obama, the Apollo 11 Command Module, and the Nation’s T. rex. In May 2018, Vince became the DPO’s 3D Program Supervisor. He is currently working on an open source suite of tools that provide durability for 3D data, 3D data standards, automated capture and processing tools, 3D authoring tools, a Smithsonian 3D API, and webGL viewer. Vince is the co-author of 6 research papers, ORCiD: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1248-9264
Luis J. Villanueva
Luis joined the DPO in April 2018 to manage informatics projects. During his academic career, which went from searching for tropical frogs in Puerto Rico to listening to temperate and tropical soundscapes, he studied the way data can be used to analyze biological systems. Luis now leads a small team that works to create and enhance digital records of the SI collections. The team also researches tools and resources to expand the digital capabilities of the SI units on a massive scale.
Laura Whitfield
Laura will be working on projects specifically for the Smithsonian American Women's History Museum (SAWHM) under the guidance of the Collections Digitization Program. Digitization projects from multiple museums across the Smithsonian Institution provide inspiring SAWHM specific digital content. Expanding our scope of knowledge to enhance research capacities, and possibly lead ways to help share and amplify the role of women in history. Laura comes to us with extensive still life photography experience and is proud to be part of a team that preserves female-centric stories through her lens.
Katie Wolfe
Since April 2023, Katie Wolfe has worked as a scanning technician on the DPO’s 3D team, where she works to grow the amount of 3D digitized assets from the Smithsonian’s collection. Prior to coming to the Smithsonian, Katie worked for a 3D scanning company and specialized in 3D digitization for museums, high-profile artists, and the VFX industry. She has worked on hundreds of 3D scanning projects varying from capturing fingerprint ridges to entire city blocks. Katie studied at the Maryland Institute College of Art where she focused on wood working, porcelain slip casting, and bronze casting. She has worked in museum education at the Baltimore Museum of Art and the Walters Art Museum and is a deep believer in the power of 3D content to engage a wide variety of audiences. In her free time, she flies her drone around Baltimore to capture photogrammetry of historic architecture and sculpture.