People
Meet the team at the EITA Lab!
Moojan Ghafurian - Assistant Professor (Lab Director)
Moojan Ghafurian is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo and Director of the Emotionally Intelligent and Trustworthy (EITA) Research Laboratory. Prior to joining SYDE, she was a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (2020-2023) and the Inaugural Wes Graham postdoctoral fellow at the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science (2018-2020) at the University of Waterloo. She got her PhD from the Pennsylvania State University in 2017, and her research interests and background are in human-computer/robot interaction, social robotics, affective computing, and cognitive science. Her research explores computational models of how humans interact with computers to inform user-centered design of socially and emotionally intelligent technologies in multiple domains, especially in healthcare and for supporting older adults, persons with dementia, and caregivers.
Email: moojan@uwaterloo.ca
Link to Profile: Moojan Ghafurian
Link to Personal Page: Moojan Ghafurian
Andrea Chakma - PhD Student
Andrea Chakma is currently a first year PhD Student in Systems Design Engineering in the EITA Lab, where she studies how robots can be designed to fit user needs and requirements. Her current research focus is on designing robot systems for children with learning deficits. Her Master's was also completed with the EITA Lab, where she developed a framework for embedding personality into social robots. Andrea also completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Waterloo in Mechatronics Engineering. She is passionate about STEM education and volunteering.
Email: andrea.chakma@uwaterloo.ca
LinkedIn: Andrea Chakma
Irfhana Zakir Hussain - PhD Student
Irfhana Zakir Hussain is a dedicated researcher specializing in the intersection of Artificial Intelligence and Public Health. With a background in Computer Science and Engineering, Irfhana has honed her expertise in developing innovative solutions to address pressing global health challenges. Currently pursuing her Joint Ph.D. Public Health Sciences and Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, she focuses on developing a next-generation Public Health Surveillance system for real-time monitoring and prediction of Extreme Heat Events.
Email: irfhana.zakirhussain@uwaterloo.ca
LinkedIn: Irfhana Zakir Hussain
Farida Olumo - MASc Student
I am a MASc student in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. I recently completed my undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering at Nile University of Nigeria. I will be working on developing a training system for providing emotional support to caregivers of individuals with dementia and training them on how to improve the affective component of interactions with persons with dementia to improve the quality of interactions.
Shiyao Zhang - MASc Student
Shiyao Zhang is pursuing a MASc in the Department of System Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. She has a background in Software Engineering and Interaction Design. Her research focuses on the applications of emotions in social robots through designing, developing, and evaluating the robots' emotional expressions during human-robot interactions.
LinkedIn: Shiyao Zhang
Hamed Vaezi - MASc Student
Hamed Vaezi is a MASc student in the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He recently completed his bachelor degree in Electrical Engineering at University of Tehran. His research will be on on developing a social robotic system for supporting children's emotion knowledge, and will be focused on developing the roles for the social robot.
Kshin Patel - MASc Student
I am a MASc student in the Department of Systems Design Engineering. I recently completed my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Waterloo where my interest and passion for human factors engineering grew. After working as a PM and data analyst, I am back to pursue graduate studies where I will be working on a project focusing on co-designing social robots for older adults where I hope to continue making an impact through meaningful, collaborative design.
Sham Sabbagh - URA
Sham Sabbagh is a third-year Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Waterloo, specializing in medical devices with an AI option. She has a strong interest in human factors engineering and user-centered design. Her research as a URA focuses on developing personalities and behaviors of social robots in a training contexts, as well as conducting literature reviews.
Luna Gao - URA
Luna Gao is a second-year Systems Design Engineering undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo with interests in data analytics, healthcare systems, and social robotics. As an Undergraduate Research Assistant this term, she will work on developing social and emotional skills for social robots.
Arnima Shrestha - URA
Arnima Shrestha is a third-year Biomedical Engineering undergraduate with a strong interest in the intersection of human factors and healthcare. As an Undergraduate Research Assistant this winter, she will apply human-centered design to child-focused robotic systems, supporting focus groups and translating user and stakeholder needs into front-end game design solutions.
Alumni
We have had a diverse group of individuals working with us in the past. Here are some of our Alumni.
Graduate Students
- Fall 2021 - Fall 2025, Pourya Aliasghari (PhD)
Undergraduate Students
- Fall 2025 - Christopher Moniz (URA)
- Fall 2025 - Isabella Damjanoski (URA)
- Fall 2025 - Keenan Ung (BME499 Student)
- Spring 2025 - Victoria Chakma (URA)
- Winter 2025, Caitlin Arnott (URA)