Meet the dedicated team at Alchemie, transforming education through exploratory and accessible learning.
Julia taught organic and AP chemistry for over twenty years. She earned the James Bryant Conant Award in 2016, the highest honor given to a high school teacher by the American Chemical Society, for her success in the classroom. As the founder of Alchemie, her goal has been to build interactive digital tools for students based on her years of chemistry instruction.
Joe’s background of game design and software development has been a crucial keystone of Alchemie since its inception. He has held director positions in multiple game studios and has been in software development for over 25 years. Joe is the wizard behind all software engineering efforts and manages the intersection of development and content.
Carl’s extensive experience as an international consultant, followed by consulting work taking tech companies from startup to exit, adds global business expertise and strategy to help guide Alchemie’s growth. He has been guiding business strategy and technical development since 2013 and has recently brought to market a critical piece of infrastructure through a smart system for large truck parking.
Sarah is a lifelong learner with a passion for revitalizing education that drives her creative contributions to product development and research. She spearheads Alchemie’s accessibility initiative and research efforts to ensure each product that is released meets the company’s highest standards of a usable and accessible tool. Sarah also has a PhD in organic chemistry and serves as a key player in Alchemie’s expanding AI research and implementation.
Katherine is a front-end engineer at Alchemie, specializing in accessible, interactive architecture that serves learners of every ability. She partners with designers to translate thoughtful UX into polished, inclusive interfaces, and her work spans 2D and 3D rendering, animation, and contributions to the educational logic behind Alchemie's learning tools. Her approach to accessibility goes beyond compliance — she designs for real usability, recognizing that every learner brings a different set of needs to the experience.
Alexa Urrea is a creative software developer and AI researcher driving innovation at Alchemie. She is committed to pushing the boundaries of educational technology, seamlessly integrating state-of-the-art AI into Alchemie’s platforms to create enriching learning experiences that inspire and motivate all learners.
Deb Nischik drives Alchemie’s product design. With a passion for accessibility and a keen eye for detail, she crafts digital experiences that prioritize inclusivity and usability for all users. With her background in STEM education and graphic design, her inner scientist and artist work together to make her a creative and methodical problem-solver.
Nicole brings her unique perspective of a screen reader user, who has been blind since birth, to support the design of the user interfaces and the alt text description system embedded into Alchemie’s products. Her creativity and critical thinking challenges the team to prioritize accessibility but most importantly, emphasize usability. She is a STEM graduate of Wayne State University and works as a board-certified dietician.
