Salt Lake City · October 2026

A Quick Intro

Hi everyone. I’m Zoe Tiede, and I’ve joined Black Star Syndicate as Partners & Industry Relations Coordinator. My background sits where human performance meets complex technology, with a focus on aerospace and defense systems. In this role I’ll help build strategic partnerships, keep our collaborative workflows running smoothly, and grow lasting relationships across our network.

Here’s a bit about my time at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University and a look at what I’ll be working on at Black Star Syndicate.

Foundations in Aerospace and Human Factors

I recently earned my Bachelor of Science in Human Factors Psychology from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, with minors in Aerospace Life Sciences and Space Operations.

Human factors is the study of how people interact with complex technology, and it matters most in high-stakes fields like defense, aerospace, and space operations. At Embry-Riddle I focused on cognitive ergonomics, user experience under high workload, and system safety compliance.

I’ve also started a Master of Science in Systems Engineering online through the University of Arizona. I’m early in the program, but pairing systems engineering with a human factors background is already giving me a new lens on technical workflows and how organizations are structured.

Applied Research

1. Senior Capstone: Laser Weapon System Interface Study

For my senior capstone, my team designed a comparative study of user interface design for directed-energy weapon systems on U.S. Navy surface vessels.

• Study design: We set technical requirements and wrote instructional tasks that guided 29 participants through designing their own dashboard interfaces for the AN/SEQ-3 Laser Weapon System (LaWS).
• Manual vs. AI-assisted design: Participants built their dashboards either with traditional manual workflows or with AI-assisted tools, including Claude, DeepSeek, Figma, and Figma Make.
• Evaluation: Using predefined criteria grounded in the military human engineering standard MIL-STD-1472, we evaluated each dashboard to compare manual and AI-assisted interfaces on usability, control layout, and information density.
• Discovery Day: I represented our team at Embry-Riddle’s Undergraduate Discovery Day, where I presented our poster and pitched our findings to industry representatives, faculty, and fellow researchers.

2. Conceptualizing the Space Elevator

I also collaborated on a research paper for the Space Elevator Consortium. Our team set out to define what a theoretical space elevator would actually require, mapping the structural, operational, and human-system elements behind one of the most ambitious pieces of space infrastructure ever proposed.

I helped write the paper’s theoretical background and research foundation, and my teammates presented our findings at the consortium’s conference. I worked on it alongside one of my favorite professors, who mentored me throughout my time at Embry-Riddle.

3. Cognitive Psychology and Visual Search

Separately, I authored a study on human visual perception using the CogLab Visual Search framework. I measured how set size and target presence affected response times across feature search and conjunction search tasks, with an eye toward how visual load and fatigue shape target detection on complex displays.

My Role at Black Star Syndicate

As Partners & Industry Relations Coordinator, I bring the same structured, user-centered approach to how we connect and collaborate across our network. My focus is making every partner interaction seamless, transparent, and worth their time.

Day to day, that means managing stakeholder communications, tracking relationships across our network, and coordinating logistics for major industry gatherings like Hard Tech Week and the Zero Gravity Summit, so our operations run smoothly and with purpose.

Outside the Office

I’m a Utah native raised in Holladay, and after four years in the Florida sun, I’m glad to be back in the Mountain West. When I’m not working on outreach or my master’s coursework, you’ll usually find me:

• Camping on quiet trips around Utah
• Paddle boarding on the lake through the summer
• Out with friends across Salt Lake City, Park City, and Provo

I’m excited to be part of this team. I look forward to learning from everyone here and putting my academic and research background to work for our partners.

Onward,

Zoe Tiede

Partners & Industry Relations Coordinator, Black Star Syndicate

Black Star Syndicate is a go-to-market advisory firm and is not a broker-dealer, law firm, or accounting firm. This newsletter is for informational purposes only and does not constitute legal, regulatory, or compliance advice.

The academic research described above was completed as university coursework at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University using publicly available information. It was not conducted on behalf of, sponsored by, or endorsed by the U.S. Navy, the Department of Defense, or any government agency. References to third-party organizations, products, events, and trademarks, including Claude, DeepSeek, and Figma, are for identification only and do not imply affiliation or endorsement. Views expressed are the author’s own.