Amanda L. Cowell
I'm a product manager with a math background. I lead XR and AI projects at the University of Michigan during the week, teach calculus and statistics at Washtenaw Community College on the side, and prototype tools of my own on the weekends.
Where I do my best work.
Small teams trying to figure something out is where I do my best work. Most of what I touch lives at the intersection of emerging technology and learning, which means a lot of "we think this could matter, but nobody's sure yet." Getting those calls right takes digging in until both the technical shape and the human shape of the problem are clear.
Coming to product from mathematics turns out to be a real asset. Holding a technical conversation with engineers and translating it for non-technical clients gets sharpened by teaching calculus and statistics to 500+ students over the years. Prototyping my own tools with Claude Code keeps me honest about what's realistic to ask of a team.
The full timeline is on LinkedIn.
Selected Work
A few recent projects.
ChalkboardAI
Local-first AI math tutoring grounded in the specific lecture a student is studying. Entirely offline for FERPA and FOIA compliance, running on a Mac Studio. A self-directed prototype I built to figure out what's actually possible in institutional AI.
Piano Lab Pro
Mixed reality performance preparation on Apple Vision Pro, built with a fifteen-person cross-functional team at U-M's Center for Academic Innovation and the School of Music, Theatre & Dance. Two years from discovery to MVP.
Acorns of Wisdom
A team health check web app I built for my own team in two weeks, deployed, and still in use. Anonymous ratings, passcode protection, drag-and-drop action items, and an animated squirrel.