Students

Arts

Adeshola Ogunsanya

Honours Arts & Business

Adeshola is an undergraduate student in the Honours Arts & Business program majoring in sociology. She is part of the Rhetoricon Database Project this term. She enjoys reading, listening to music and watching sports.

Aleksander Franiczek

English

Aleks is currently working towards an English PhD. His doctoral research synthesizes perspectives from game studies, phenomenology, and critical design to consider how a player's sense of immersion in a videogame can provide a means towards self-reflection through creative engagement both during and outside gameplay. He is also the Section Head of Essays at the Games Institute's online journal, First Person Scholar.

Aleks Franiczek, Author at RPGFan

Alex Fleck

English Language and Literature

Alex studies retrogaming hardware, software, and modding/fan communities to understand changes over time to consumer culture, material literacy, and legacy platforms. He also helps design games with other GI researchers in ongoing GI projects and partnerships. Alex is currently interested in finding and collecting license-expired retro games (games unlikely to be released again), as well as expanding his 90's era A/V set up.

Benjamin Valles

Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business

Ben is a member of the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business pursuing a Bachelors of Global Business and Digital Arts. Currently based in Waterloo, he is assisting Dr. Ville Mäkelä in projects surrounding Virtual Reality and HCI

Chris Lawrence

English Language and Literature

Chris is a PhD Candidate in the department of English Langauge and Literature. Their dissertation research focuses on identifying world-building mythopoetic structures in games and distinguishing them from traditional narrative approaches. Chris is currently Editor-and-Chief of First Person Scholar and Senior Curator for Critical Distance.

Diana Moreno Ojeda

English Language and Literature

Diana has loved science fiction and board games ever since she can remember, moving from Stratego—at the adventurous age of 6— to Netrunner and Ascension—more recently.

Emily Shiu

Psychology

Emily (BA in Psychology and MASc in Developmental and Communication Sciences) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Psychology. Currently, she is studying voice assistant interactions in bilingual populations.

Eric Chea

Global Business and Digital Arts

Eric is in the 3rd year of Global Business & Digital Arts at the University of Waterloo. Outside of school, he is a professional freelance editor who has been editing for 5+ years. He mainly edits for content creators in the Twitch space, working with streamers like Atrioc & SimplyN64. Overall, Eric is passionate about media creation dipping into avenues such as photography, videography, motion graphics, 3D graphics etc.

Giuseppe William Femia

English - Rhetoric and Communication Design

Giuseppe Femia is an English PhD Candidate at the University of Waterloo. He previously completed a double major for his Bachelor of Arts, in English, Rhetoric, Media, and Professional Communication & Honours Arts and Business, as well as a Master of Arts, in Rhetoric and Communication Design, both at Waterloo.

Giuseppe’s current research in game studies, media studies, queer studies, disability studies, and performance studies observes different types of gaming media and the appeal it has to its audience. He previously presented his work on queer reparative play in Dungeons & Dragons at the Transformative Play Initiative Seminar in Visby, Sweden, and then had it published as a peer reviewed article in the International Journal of Role-Playing. Giuseppe is now partnering up with other scholars researching the intersection of disability studies and game studies to broaden the horizons of the growing field.

Giuseppe is currently working as a research assistant for a SSHRC-funded research project on digital media, disability, and COVID-19. The project will bring together scholars, artists, and activists who have a relationship with disability, chronic illness, neurodivergence, mental illness, vision impairment, and/or Deafness to share and discuss their personal experiences of digital life under the different phases of the pandemic. He has also taken on the roles of Workshop Facilitator, at the Centre for Teaching Excellence on campus, and Graduate Instructor, in the English Department, after completing his Certificate in University Teaching to make use of the scholarship he has done in the academic realm of teaching and learning.

Twitter: @_foolsbait

Jenn Rickert

English Language and Literature

Jenn is an interdisciplinary-trained academic (BA Hons Classical History & Anthropology; MA Public Issues Anthropology) specializing in the interconnectivity of people, technology, and culture. She is in the dissertation research stage of her English PhD, focusing on video game mechanics (and game mechanics more broadly) and how they are fundamental in creating, enhancing, or giving meaning to players' interactions within game worlds. She is developing methodology for interpreting these complex systems of meaning-making-interaction, in hopes of building not only more inclusive and positive gaming experiences, but also in affecting video game communities as well. In addition to her primary research goals, she also is particularly interested in accessible and applicable research, bridging research and industry, and other socially constructed aspects of video games (e.g. cheating & modding, emotion, etc.) 

Jonathan Baltrusaitis

English Language and Literature

Jonathan is a PhD candidate whose research-creation work seeks to converge locative media with civic monuments to enrich cultural memory narratives. He is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who specializes in difficult socio-political issues. He is currently in his tenth year of teaching in the Global Business and Digital Arts program (GBDA) at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.

Jonathan's Website

Laura Wallace Jarvis

Social Work

Laura is a student of the Bachelor of Social Work program, and research assistant for Wing Lam (Veen) Wong. Veen's research explores the use of HCI for violence prevention and is funded by NSERC.

Nicholas Hobin

English Language and Literature

Nicholas, BA (King’s University College), MA (University of Waterloo), is a PhD candidate in the English Language Literature program at the University of Waterloo. He is interested in posthumanism in game studies, and the ways in which digital environments work to confront what it means to be human.

Rency Luan

English Language and Literature

Rency (she/her) is a PhD student in English with a BA (Hons. English; Rhetoric) from the University of Waterloo and MA (Rhetoric) from Carnegie Mellon University. Rency’s research examines the intersection between mental health, immigration, and race to explore the ways in which [mental health] discourse is circulated within an intergenerational level.

Sabrina Alicia Sgandurra

Experimental Digital Media

Sabrina Alicia Sgandurra  (HBA Toronto Metropolitan University, MA University of Waterloo) is a PhD student specializing in games studies. As a resident of the Games Institute and as a student, her research focuses on the intersection of oral storytelling traditions in the act of streaming story-focused video games. Sabrina has won two OGS awards, has presented her research at distinguished conferences such as DiGRA 2023, PCA 2021 & 2022, MLA 2022, ACCUTE 2022, and CGSA 2021, and has published her research in Simulation & Gaming. In addition to her role as a student, she is also currently working as a Research Project Manager for the HCI Games Group, and at First Person Scholar as the Editor-in-Chief. 

Twitter - @SabrinaAliciaSG
Twitch - www.twitch.tv/brainiacbri

Sina Torabi

Faculty of Information & Media Studies Program: Media Studies

Sina is a PhD candidate in the Department of Media Studies at Western University. He is interested to learn more about the peculiar interaction between narrative structures, issues of human identity, and agency in video games.

Sofia Santos

Psychology

Sofia is an undergraduate student at the University of Waterloo, where she is pursuing a degree in Psychology within the Honours Arts and Business Program. In addition to her studies, she is a research assistant for the Rhetoricon Database Project, supervised by Dr. Randy Harrison. Sofia also contributes to research on smart assistant interactions under the guidance of Emily Shiu at the Lab in Infant Development and Language (LIDL) Lab. These research roles showcase her dedication to advancing her psychological knowledge and her enthusiasm for exploring the intersection of technology and human behavior. Sofia’s diverse experiences highlight her curiosity in many different subject areas.

Toben Racicot

English Language and Literature

Toben, BA Creative Writing (BYUI), MA Rhetoric and Communication Design (University of Waterloo), is a PhD candidate in English at the University of Waterloo. Toben’s research focuses on role-playing games, collaborative worldbuilding, loot mechanics, and the magic circle in digital forms.

Engineering

Aaron Jumarang

Systems Design Engineering

Aaron is a Biomedical Engineering student at the University of Waterloo. He completed my 2B term in spring 2024 and will be with the Games Institute for the fall term as a co-op student. Aaron is working under Dr. John Muñoz to develop a game that adaptively changes difficulty using physiological signals from various sensors such as EEG, HRV, and EDA. His general interests are neuroscience, brain-computer interfaces, robotics, and neurogaming. Aaron's favourite video game is Civilization 6.


Alexander Glover

Systems Design Engineering

Alexander is a Systems Design Engineering MASc candidate. His focus is on Explainable Artificial Intelligence (XAI), particularly how AI can be used to teach decision making processes to approach complex situations through explanation.


Ali Haider Rizvi

Management Science and Engineering

Ali (MS, Columbia University; B.Tech, NIT Jalandhar) is a PhD student studying Human-Computer Interaction. He is interested in studying the interaction between technology management, human factors and data analytics as it applies to non-traditional interfaces Prior to his PhD, Ali was a Senior Product Manager on Amazon's Alexa platform. When Ali is not at work, he is either climbing mountains or flying a tiny Cessna.


Ali Yamini

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Ali is a MASc student at University of Waterloo, currently working in social robotics under supervision of Prof. Dautenhahn at Social and Intelligent Robotics Lab. He working on helping student's with Amblyopia to facilitate their healing using a robotic agent.


Arden Song

Management Science and Engineering

Arden is a Master's student pursuing a degree in Management Science and Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Mark Hancock. She received a Bachelor's of Applied Science in Management Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Arden's interests include human-computer interaction, board games, and statistics and data analytics.


Arielle standing beside a magnolia tree

Arielle Grinberg

Management Science and Engineering

Arielle is a PhD Candidate working with Mark Hancock and Rob Duimering. Her interest in Human-Computer Interaction began when she worked as a research assistant at the GI. Her research interests span across a wide range of disciplines.


Auro Liu

Management Science and Engineering

Auro Liu is a Ph.D. student pursuing a degree in Management Sciences at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Oliver Schneider. Her research field is related to haptics, virtual reality, and hybrid technologies.


Bibhushan Raj Joshi

Management Science and Engineering

Bibhushan is a PhD student in Management Science and Engineering department of UW. His research background is in computer engineering and management. He is interested in creative research projects related with HCI, Haptics, Software Engineering and Product development.

LinkedIn


Caitlyn Mei 

System Design Engineering

Caitlyn is a Master’s student in the Department of Systems Design Engineering and is supervised by Prof. Mark Hancock. She received a Bachelor of Applied Science in Mechatronics Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Her research is in designing and developing a sketch-based interface for interactive data visualization using pattern recognition in the Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) field.

LinkedIn


Derrick Wang

Systems Design Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Ph. D. in Systems Design Engineering

Derrick is a first-year PhD student in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo under the supervision of Dr. Lennart E. Nacke. He holds a MASc in Systems Design Engineering from UW and a BFA in Creative Technologies from Virginia Tech, USA. His research interests involve video games (especially MMORPGs), Virtual Reality, Exergames, and mental health.


Drake Dong

Electrical Engineering

Drake is a second year student working on his Bachelor of Applied Science in Electrical Engineering at the University of Waterloo. He is currently working full time as a fullstack developer for the Rhetoricon Project.


Ellie Sanoubari

Systems Design Engineering, Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

Ellie works on REMind, which is a transformational game that uses social robots to help children learn how to intervene in bullying situations. Inspired by applied drama techniques, the game engages children in an interactive story that allows them to observe a bullying scenario between two robots, and then intervene by controlling a third bystander robot. REMind is designed to promote internal reflection and situated learning.


Hilda Hadan

Systems Design Engineering

Hilda is a Ph.D. candidate in Systems Design Engineering, collaborating with Dr. Lennart E. Nacke and Dr. Leah Zhang-Kennedy. Her research is centered around deceptive design, which was previously known as dark patterns, in games and game-related technologies, such as virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), and mixed reality (MR). Beyond her work on deceptive design, Hilda has a keen interest in human-centered research, specifically in the areas of video games, privacy, and cybersecurity. She was awarded the 2023 Games Institute Seed Research Grant for her research on the privacy implication of XR.


Jae Eun (Jen) Shin next to humanoid robot

Jae Eun (Jen) Shin

Systems Design Engineering

JaeEun (Jen) is a Ph.D. student in Mechanical Mechatronic Engineering at the University of Waterloo. She is co-supervised by Prof. Leah Zhang-Kennedy (Safe Interactions Lab) and Prof. Yue Hu (A.I.R Lab). Her research interests lie in human-robot interaction, especially in privacy and cybersecurity risks in social robots. Her current research explores privacy perception in child-robot interaction and the design of safe interactions with humanoid social robots.


Jalaja Shanmugalingam

Management Science and Engineering

Jalaja holds a Bachelor's degree in Mechanical Engineering from Concordia University and a Master's degree in Engineering Management from the University of Alberta. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the University of Waterloo in the Department of Management Science and Engineering. During her master's program, Jalaja conducted research and authored a thesis titled “Gamification and Predictive Analytics for the Next Generation of Workers.” The primary objective of this research was to assist employees in obtaining the guidance necessary for continuous professional growth while enabling companies to reduce the time their senior management spends on mentoring and guiding their employees. Additionally, they implemented a gamified model within our system that leverages real-time tracked data to incentivize and reward employee contributions. She intends to continue her Ph.D. studies within the same research domain.


Jieun Lee

Systems Design Engineering

Jieun is a MASc student in System Design Engineering under the supervision of Professor Cayley MacArthur and Professor Oliver Schneider. She has a background in UX research and Design through her Bachelor’s degree, Global Business and Digital Arts, and is interested in human-computer interaction.


Jordan Wang

Mechatronics Engineering

Jordan will be the student research assistant for Professor Oliver Scheider over the summer 2024 term. During this co-op, his main focus will be working with haptic feedback devices. This will include setting up the physical devices and programming the devices for different use cases. Jordan has experience working with Solidworks, 3D printing, and microcontrollers. Although this will be his first experience working in a research lab, Jordan is looking forward to learning all the ins and outs of research! Jordan is still in his undergrad, having just finished his 2A term and will be entering the 2B term of Mechatronics Engineering this coming fall.


Joe holding a camera up to his face

Joseph Tu

Systems Design Engineering

Joseph is a Ph.D. student pursuing a degree in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Lennart Nacke and Dr. Oliver Schneider. He is interested in the field of Human Computer Interaction mainly in the domain of physiological measures, emotions, games user research and adaptive user interface. His goal is to maintain his hairline after completing his Ph.D.


Kaushall Senthil Nathan

System Design Engineering

Kaushall is a MA student pursuing system's design engineering. His main goal for  research is enhancing the medium of video games. More specifically, the experience with machine learning fundamentals leads  to his belife that robust AI technologies can be developed to work alongside players in data-rich environments of video game worlds and serve as moderators to reduce problematic behavior and promote human flourishing. In this vein, Kaushall sees common themes with the research done in the HCI Games lab such as affective gaming and social relationship-building games. Furthermore, believes video games are a powerful medium that has changed millions of people’s lives for the better and so, wants to use the skills and tools available to him to make the medium more expressive and enjoyable to everyone. He believe the people of the HCI Games lab share this belief and I would be proud to work alongside them toward this goal. In the long term, he sees himself working with video game companies to develop and deploy these technologies to consumers around the world, to ensure that video games serve as a vibrant and accessible hobby to all.


Picture of Kevin Joseph

Kevin Joseph

Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering

Kevin is pursuing a MASc starting in the Fall of 2023 under the supervision of Dr. Yue Hu in the Active and Interactive Robotics (AIR) lab in the Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering department. Kevin has a BESc in Mechatronics Systems Engineering from the University of Western Ontario. His general interests lie in robotics, machine learning, automation and controls. Kevin's interest in robotics has been developed through high school robotics programs such as FIRST Robotics, and his education in mechatronics engineering. As for his interest in machine learning, it is a field that is experiencing consistent innovation has the potential to completely change the way people interact with technology. Implementing these machine learning based systems into robotics can often be difficult based on the specific task, and he finds this challenge to be very fascinating. Additionally, Kevin believes automation is a tool that can improve the day-to-day conditions of workers and other people who interact with these tools when implemented appropriately. Robotics and machine learning tools will be essential for the future of automation, and control system are essential to make these systems work in practice. As part of his research, Kevin is aiming to develop a system that provides grasping assistance for operators who are attempting to control robots remotely through virtual reality (VR). The system will identify the operator’s intent through data as their gaze and angle of approach, combine this information with information gained from the robot’s workspace, and produce grasp suggestions that the operator can decided upon that is best for this purpose.


Lakshmi Vinoj

Systems Design Engineering


Lakshmi is a master's student in system design engineering, researching human factors and ergonomics. Research is a new stepping stone for Lakshmi as she has no prior experience, but curiousity and experimental nature fuels her. With her background in CS and HCI, Lakshmi looks forward to all the amazing people she will work with and all the things she will accomplish at the Games Institute!


Marco standing in front of the CN tower

Marco Aurelio Moran Ledesma

Systems Design Engineering

LinkedIn


Upper body of Marvin Pafla in a checkered shirt with a backpack on standing in front of a forest

Marvin Pafla

Systems Design Engineering

Marvin is a PhD student at the Cheriton School of Computer Science. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in both Psychology and Computer Science at the University of Konstanz (Germany), and a Master's degree in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Marvin's interest lie Games Research, Human-Computer Interaction, and Artificial Intelligence. Marvin is supervised by Prof. Dr. Kate Larson and Prof. Dr. Mark Hancock.


Natalie Nova

MASc in Management Science, Engineering, Specialization in Information Systems

Natalie is now working to complete her MASc with Mark Hancock and Cayley MacArthur as supervisors. Her research is in the field of Human-Centred Explainable AI, where the bias in current AI methodologies and how it affects users is being considered. Specifically, zooming in on how gender shapes eXplainable AI (XAI) systems and figuring out how we can design AI that's fairer and more mindful of these gender influences.


Negin Azizi

Electrical and Computer Engineering

Negin is research assistant in the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Lab, in the Electrical and Computer Engineering (ECE) department, under the supervision of Prof. Dautenhahn. She is interested in exploring assistive technologies and robots for children with disabilities.


Severyn Balaniuk in front of body of water

Severyn Balaniuk

Quantum Computing

Severyn is a Master's student in Physics (with a  bachelor of engineering degree), who is working on research in the area of quantum computing to apply its possibility to simulate physics processes and computer graphics.
Instagram

Teng (Jacob) Dazhuang

Systems Design Engineering

Jacob is a Systems Design Engineering PhD student.


Tianzheng Shi

Management Science and Engineering

Tianzheng is a MASc student in the Management Science and Engineering department supervised by Oliver Schneider. He completed his undergrad in psychology from Peking University in China, with experience in HCI research. He is currently working on understanding and evaluation of haptic experience.


Picture of Vasyl Chomko

Vasyl Chomko 

Systems Design Engineering

Vasyl achieved a Bachelor degree of Mathematics and Computer Science, Taras Shevchenko 
National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine. He started a MASc in Systems Design Engineering under the supervision of prof. David Clausi and prof. Alex Wong. Vasyl worked as a Middle DevOps Engineer for some time. He also has an extensive experience in software development, primarily using Python and C++. 

Publications:
* Padalko H., Chomko V., & Chumachenko D. (Under Review). A Novel Approach to Fake News Classification using LSTM-based Deep Learning Models. Frontiers in Big Data.

* Padalko H., Chomko V., Yakovlev S., & Chumachenko D. (Accepted). Ensemble Machine Learning Approaches for Fake News Classification. Radioelectronic and Computer Systems.

Conferences:
* Chumachenko  D., Chomko  V., Meniailov I., Krivtsov S., & Padalko H. (2023). A Data-Driven Simulation of Ukrainian Refugee Flows Impact on COVID-19 Dynamics in the UK. In Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Informatics & Data-Driven Medicine. Bratislava, Slovakia, November 17-19.

* Padalko H., Chomko V., & Chumachenko D. (2023). COVID-19 Misinformation Detection on Weibo by Support Vector Classifier. In Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Dependable Systems, Services and Technologies. Athens, Greece, October 13-15. (Accepted)

Awards:
* The Mitacs Globalink Research Award"


Environment

sid headshot

Sid Heeg

Sustainability Management

Sid is a PhD candidate in the Sustainability Management program. They are an interdisciplinary scholar whose main work revolves around mis- and disinformation in rural farming communities. As a social media specialist who straddles rhetoric, media studies, and narrative interpretation, they have published in media studies, games studies, and in Canadian and global Indigenous literatures—focusing on decolonization of genres and intangible cultural heritage. They have co-presented on the topic of horror within games with Pamela Maria Schmidt including “Horror as Medium: Wicked Problems and Environmental ‘Non-Horror’ in Resident Evil V, VII, and VIII” at the 2023 International Conference on Games and Narrative; “Horror as Medium” at the 2024 Beyond Play Conference; and in the forthcoming publication “Horror As Medium: An Examination of Environmental Horror in Video Games” in the edited collection Epistemic Genres: New Formations in Digital Game Genres.  

LinkedIn

Google Scholar


Health

Adebusola (Busola) Adekoya

School of Public Health Sciences

Busola is a registered nurse and PhD candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Lili Liu. Her current research focuses on older adults living with dementia at risk of getting lost and going missing and the use of innovative strategies to promote safe walking. Busola says you should come to her if you want to learn more about promoting health and wellness and technologies to support aging in place. Her expertise also extends to dementia, missing persons, and technology.


Chris McNab

Social Work

Chris is a queer, disabled Afro-Jamaican, and registered social worker, pursuing a Master of Social Work at the University of Waterloo. His career spans multiple direct service roles, supporting youth with addictions, individuals living with HIV, and Federally incarcerated people. Recently, his focus has shifted towards equity and community engagement, reflecting his passion for social justice through knowledge mobilization and community empowerment. He currently serves as an anti-Black racism lead within the child welfare sector.

Outside of work, Chris enjoys watching anime, reality TV, hiking, and recreational kickboxing.


Isabella Rose Chawrun

Faculty of Health

Isabella is a PhD student in the Faculty of Health for Public Health Sciences/Aging, Health, and Wellbeing. Working with Dr. Lili Liu, Isabella advocates for autistic people of all ages but her research focuses on older autistic people by using social determinants of the health model. Her research specifically highlights wearables as a method of social connectivity and physical health support. She is connected to the Centre of Addiction and Mental Health and advocates for neurodiverse expressions and conceptions of mental health and service delivery.


Nic Hobson

Kinesiology and Health Sciences, Faculty of Health, Doctor of Philosophy, Kinesiology - Neuroscience

Over the course of our lives, brain function begins to deteriorate. With age, this deterioration begins to advance and cognitive ability is affected in one form or another. Nic's research interests lie in better understanding the effects with which physical activity and other positive health modifiers have on brain function, cognitive ability and neuroplasticity across the lifespan. More specifically, his interests lie in the prevention and reversal of neurodegeneration. His background stems from a population level approach to maintaining health through behavioural and policy-level modifications and reaches into the underlying neurobiological mechanisms which affect daily function. Through methods developed in neuroscience, neurophysiology and epidemiologic perspectives, the effects of different levels of exercise on chronic neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia may be better understood and further salutogenic behaviours may be adapted to moderate and even reverse the gradual process of neurodegeneration.

LinkedIn


Nicholas Tibert

Kinesiology and Health Sciences

Nicholas is a clinical exercise physiologist and high performance trainer that is interested in muscle and bone physiology, resistance training and training adaptations, cognition and video games, and the link between esports and physical performance.


Samira Mehrabi

Aging, Health and Well-being

Samira is a PhD candidate and research/teaching assistant at the University of Waterloo. She is a personable and responsible Physiotherapist/Exercise Therapist with extensive knowledge and professional experience of rehabilitation methods, exercise prescription, and health promotion strategies.

LinkedIn


Headshot of Wing Lam (Veen) Wong

Wing Lam (Veen) Wong

Public Health and Health Systems

Veen is a PhD candidate in the School of Public Health Sciences. Her research explores the use of HCI for violence prevention and is funded by NSERC. Veen is supervised by Drs. James Wallace and Cayley MacArthur.


Mathematics

Dark Cosmic Lux Skin Splash League of Legends art

Alessandra Luz de Medeiros Ferreira

Computer Science

Alessandra is a PhD student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science under the supervision of Dr Lennart Nacke and Dr Daniel Vogel. She holds a MSc in HCI-E from University College of London.


anchit headshot

Anchit Mishra

Computer Science

Anchit is a PhD student at the School of Computer Science, working under the supervision of Profs. Matthew Brehmer, Oliver Schneider and Daniel Vogel. His research interests lie at the intersection of XR and Human-AI interaction, and he is generally interested in applications of computer graphics and visualization.

Website


A picture of Ansh Sharma

Ansh Sharma

Computer Science

Ansh is a Computer Science MMath student in the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo, conducting research under the supervision of Prof. Jim Wallace. His work in machine learning, explainable AI, and human-computer interaction synergizes to enhance topic modeling through transparent algorithms and intuitive interfaces, promoting collaborative and interpretable insights.

Twitter

LinkedIn

GitHub

List of Publications


An Bella Chen

Cheriton School of Computer Science

An Bella Chen is a Master's student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science co-supervised by professor Leah Zhang-Kennedy and Jim Wallace. Her research explores the suitability of VR in the context of telehealth and studies the adaptability, context sensitivity, and the flow of information through the digital medium will reveal nuanced privacy needs, adaptations to technology, and design opportunities to better meet the needs of diverse audiences.


Junhyeok Kim

Computer Science

Junhyeok is a PhD student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science. He completed Bachelor's and Master's degrees at the University of Manitoba. He practices and designs interactive systems using latest technology to improve immersion of computing.


Ken Jen Lee

Computer Science

Ken is a PhD student in the Cheriton School of Computer Science, advised by Dr. Edith Law. He is researching methods of using extended reality technologies to nurture and facilitate rational compassion, transformational learning and altruistic attitudes and behaviours.


Picture of Kimi Ce Zhong

Kimi Ce Zhong

Computer Science

Kimi is a Postdoc fellow at the WatVis Lab at the University of Waterloo. Advised by Dr. Jian Zhao, his current research is to creatively utilize AI as a design material to physicalize digital sound data. He is doing this by conducting more-than-human-oriented studies in designing with the gathered (non)human things and deploying the physicalized thing to entangle the cohabited everyday (non)humans. Kimi received his Ph.D. degree from the Everyday Design Studio at Simon Fraser University. Advised by Dr. Ron Wakkary, Dr. Willams Odom, and Dr. Mikael Wiberg, the overarching goal of his doctoral study is to progressively develop shared qualities of shape-changing things through the lens of the Materiality of Interaction. To this end, he constructed three novel dynamic physical forms by designing with the gathered materials and tools at hand. With these resources, he collected rich new organic empirical data by conducting long-term field studies in everyday settings. The shared qualities are suddenness, versatileness, and creatureness, which explicitly extend former discussions on the affordances of shape changes in design and HCI. Before pursuing his research potential, Kimi worked at multinational corporations to improve people’s everyday lives by designing technological commercial products, which span from household appliances to medical devices to transportation equipment. These research-oriented design projects have won more than ten top-tier international design awards, which include the Red Dot Design Award: Best of the Best, iF Design Award, and International Design Excellent Award. Research Interests: Human-computer Interaction; Interaction Design; Industrial Design; Research through Design; More-than-Human Design; The Materiality of Interaction, AI; Data Physicalization; Temporality; Shape-Changing Interfaces; Everyday Design.


Lydia Choong

Computer Science

Lili is a Master’s student in Computer Science interested in UX and HCI and working with Dr. Lennart E. Nacke. She is interested in creating more intuitive and accessible gameplay experiences to create games that can be played by anyone. People should talk to Lili if they want to chat about Figma, League and TFT.


Michelle Ma

Computer Science

Michelle is an undergraduate computer science student working with Dr. Jim Wallace and Dr. Keiko Katsuragawa as a research assistant. She is currently exploring aging-in-place technology to foster communication between aging parents and their adult children.


Nathan D'Silva

Combinatorics and Optimization, Computational Mathematics

Nathan is a fullstack developer studying Combinatorics & Optimization and Computational Mathematics at the University of Waterloo. He's a highly motivated software developer with several years of professional experience and a proven ability to deliver high-quality, maintainable code. Nathan is enthusiastic about programming, with dozens of personal projects and a diverse range of interests. He uses Fedora Linux, his favorite programming languages are Rust and Javascript (Vue), and he eats a lot of chicken.


Nathan Chang

Applied Mathematics

Nathan is an undergraduate at the University of Waterloo. His program is Applied Mathematics with Scientific computing and a minor in music. He plays Super Smash Brothers Melee competitively and own an esports organization in the KW region. Nathan is employed by Warriors Athletics as their eSports event coordinator. He is interested in ergonomic controllers and how effective they are at promoting hand health.


vlad

Vladyslav Shein

Mathematics

Vladyslav is a Master of Mathematics in Data Science candidate at the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science. He holds a Bachelor of Education and a Master of Science in Computer Science with Honours from Drahomanov Ukrainian State University.


International Visiting Students