The Games Institute acknowledges that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as Neutral), Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract, the land promised to the Six Nations that includes six miles on each side of the Grand River.
Arts
Adeshola Ogunsanya
Honours Arts & Business
Adeshola is an undergraduate student in the Honours Arts & Business program majoring in history and minoring 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 critial 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 gamplay. He is also an associate editor at the Games Institute's online journal, First Person Scholar.
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.
Alizeh Charania
Psychology
Alizeh is a 3A Psychology undergraduate student in the Research Intensive Specialization Co-op program. Currently she is working as a Social Virtual Reality Co-op Research Assistant at the University of Waterloo Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business and the Games Institute. As part of the position, she will participate in research projects relating to virtual realities technology and assist with all aspects of research work including literature reviews, data collection and documentation.
Bella Chan
Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business
Bella is a short-term exchange student of industrial design from China. Currently, she is focusing on human-computer interaction research. She has several experiences designing and researching with children. She very happy to be here at the University of Waterloo!
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.
Eliana Hill-Zeesman
Legal Studies
Eliana is a BA student in Legal Studies, currently helping Dr. Shana MacDonald and Dr. Brianna Wiens in researching vaccine hesitancy.
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.
Eugene Kukshinov
Psychology
Eugene is a Post-doctoral Fellow working with Dr. Lennart E. Nacke. He focuses on media psychology research, including areas of presence and immersion studies, media psychology issues (such as media identity, and representation), and analysis of Russian hegemonic discourses. You should talk to Eugene if you want help with the conceptualization/categorization or design parts of your research projects or of you like ping pong, tabletop/video games, sports, and movies. Learn more about Eugene - eugenekukshinov.com.
Federica Gini
Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, visiting PhD student
Federica is a visiting Ph.D. student from the University of Trento in Cognitive Science with a scholarship funded by the Motivational Digital Systems research group (MoDiS) at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK). She has a background in psychology and currently working in the Human-Computer Interaction field. Her research focuses on gamification, and she is particularly interested in the benefits and limitations of cooperative gamification.
Giuseppe William Femia
English - Rhetoric and Communication Design
Giuseppe completed a BA (English, Rhetoric, Media, and Professional Communication & Honours Arts and Business) and an MA (Rhetoric and Communication Design) at the University of Waterloo.
Hannah Delamere
English Language and Literature
Hannah is currently Dr. Shana MacDonald's research assistant, and is assisting in researching the connections between second-wave feminism to fourth-wave feminism, as well as planning to make her own collection to archive of feminism in social media.
Jay Smith
English Literature
Jay is a Master’s student in the English Literature Program. They received their Bachelor of Arts in English Literature from University of Calgary in 2022. They are academically interested in Queer Theory and Representation in modern media and developing fields of research like comics studies and interactive media.
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 gender, power structures, and social dynamics surrounding competitive gaming communities, particularly within World of Warcraft. 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.)
Kate Bradley
History
Kate is a History student, doing research at the GI with Feminist Think Tank. She is assisting on projects in media communication, feminist archives, and feminist digital activism. She is working to become an interdisciplinary scholar who prioritizes care-full research and feminist collectivity.
Lindsay Meaning
English Language and Literature
Lindsay (BA English, Wilfrid Laurier University; MA Experimental Digital Media, University of Waterloo) is a fourth year PhD candidate in the English department at UWaterloo.
Michael Hancock
English Language and Literature
Michael is a Ph.D. student in the English Language and Literature Department at the University of Waterloo.
Navneet Kaur
Legal Studies
Navneet is an undergraduate student in Legal Studies who is supporting Dr. Shana MacDonald and Dr. Brianna Wiens in their research regarding feminist digital media. She manages public-facing digital media accounts for the Feminist Think Tank and her tasks include data management, task management, and content creation.
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.
Pierson Browne
Sociology and Legal Studies
Pierson's research focuses on the propagation of concepts and information through the social networks formed around and within communities of play. Pierson is a methodologically-focused mixed-methods researcher: he has contributed to the field of Social Network Analysis with his work on Exponential Random Graph Models for Directed Acyclic Graphs, he has generated insights into Swarm Ethnography and Rapid Ethnographic Assessment as part of his work with game development intermediaries, and he has produced research stemming from his work as an Embedded Ethnographer with Montreal indie game development studios.
Ritika Puri
English Literature and Rhetoric
Ritika is an undergraduate student currently working as a part-time worker on the Rhetoricon project. Rhetoricon explores extra grammatical patterns (rhetorical figures). One of the many goals of the project is to explore many instances of texts with these patterns in order to leverage this for advanced text mining, specifically argument mining.
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.
Sakeenah Ashique
Honors Arts and Business DAC
Sakeenah is an undergraduate student in the Honors Art and Business program. She is working as a research assistant for Professor Shana MacDonald to provide data management assistance for her feminist media archive.
Sarah Casey
Rhetoric and Communication Design
Sarah is interested in the many (many!) ways humans manage to confuse and irritate one another via communication. In particular, her research involves risk society, public policy and trust, mis- and dis-information, and the rhetoric of risk, with a specific interest in competing/argumentative constructions of risk. These rhetorics often involve a bit (ok, a lot) of verbal gymnastics, and she finds investigating the forms and usages of persuasive language in her work with the Rhetoricon database project is a fun and fruitful addition to her research and studies.
Sebastian Cmentowski
Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, Faculty of Art
After completing his PhD in Computer Science at the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany, in 2022, he will join the HCI Games Group at the Games Institute in July 2023. His research, funded through the Provost's Program for Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Scholars, will center on using VR exergames to trigger behavioral change and fight sedentary lifestyles.
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.
Tianzheng Shi
Psychology
Tianzheng is an undergraduate student majoring in Psychology at Peking University. He is joining UW for the MITACS globalink internship program and is currently working with Oliver Schneider. Tianzheng is interested in the connection between experience, perception, and the physical attributes of different stimuli. Since Tianzheng is currently residing in China, he says you can come to him if you would like to know more about China and his perspective on human rights advocacy within the nation.
Toben Racicot
English PhD
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
Ahmed Anwar
Management Sciences
Ahmed is a Masters student in the Management Sciences department supervised by Oliver Schneider. Previously, he completed his undergrad from Lahore University of Management Sciences, Pakistan with an interdisciplinary coursework in Management Science and Computer Science.
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 Sciences
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.
Ana Lucia Diaz de Leon Derby
Systems Design Engineering
Ana Lucia is a MSc student in Systems Design Engineering under the supervision of Professor Oliver Schneider. She received her Bachelor degree in Innovation and Development Engineering from the University Tec de Monterrey (ITESM).
Arielle Grinberg
Management Sciences
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.
Bibhushan Raj Joshi
Management Sciences
Bibhushan is a PhD student in Management science 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.
Chris Wang
Management Engineering
Chris is an undergraduate student in the Management Engineering program. He is currently working on developing hardware and software prototyping for interactive haptic, VR, and tangible experiences with Professor Oliver Schneider.
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.
Ekaterina Durmanova
Systems Design Engineering
Ekaterina is a Master's research student who is researching exercise games, juicy game design and embellishments. She has a background in user experience research and design through her Bachelor's degree in Global Business and Digital Arts.
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. student 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.
John Muñoz
Adjunct Professor, System Design Engineering
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.
Karina Arrambide
Systems Design Engineering
Karina is a Ph.D. student pursuing a degree in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Lennart Nacke. She holds an MSc in Information Technology with Business and Management from the University of Sussex in the UK, and a BSc in Information Technology from the University of Monterrey in Mexico. Her main interests include understanding player's behaviors and emotions by applying diverse games user research methodologies, specifically biometrics such as electromyography and galvanic skin response.
Karthik Theivendran
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Karthik is an MSc student in Electrical and Computer Engineering. He received a Bachelor of Engineering degree in Electrical and Computer Systems Engineering at Monash University. Karthik's interests lie in Human-Computer Interaction, Artificial Intelligence, Haptic Computing and Wearables. He has industrial experience in developing and commercializing wearable technology products.
Kateryna Morayko
Systems Design Engineering
Kateryna is pursuing a Masters in Systems Design Engineering through the SWaGUR program under the supervision of Dr. Mark Hancock. She is interested in human computer interaction, and her main project involves the study of daydreaming during video game play.
Karthik Parsad
Management Engineering
Karthik is a fourth-year undergraduate student in Management Engineering. He has studied software and game development and is interested in working with Haptics, Artificial Intelligence and VR. He is interested in video games, specifically multiplayer games, and action RGPs. He is working on a project with Professor Oliver Schneider regarding Virtual Reality (VR) Speech Therapy.
Leila Homaeian
Systems Design Engineering
Leila is a PhD student in Systems Design Engineering. She studies large interactive surfaces, such as wall displays and digital tabletops, and how to support co-located collaboration around them. Leila received her MSc. degree in Software Engineering from the University of Alberta.
Leslie Xin
Systems Design Engineering
Leslie is a fourth-year undergraduate Systems Design Engineering Student and researcher. She is currently working with Dr. Lai-Tze Fan and Lulu Liu to explore how AR/VR and interactive digital storytelling can be leveraged to represent transformative quantum technologies. Her other areas of interest include creative coding, climate tech, and web3.
Lulu Liu
Systems Design Engineering
Lulu is a digital multimedia artist, photographer and filmmaker whose work disseminates technology’s coalescence with art, and how one stays grounded through this metamorphosis. Some of her previous works have been featured by the Toronto International Film Festival and the Art Gallery of Ontario.
Marco Aurelio Moran Ledesma
Systems Design Engineering
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.
Mohamed Fouda
Systems Design Engineering
Mohamed is currently working under the supervision of Dr. Oliver Schneider (Haptics Experience Lab), to design and build a platform to house and share haptic creations, called Haptiverse. The Haptiverse is for designers, musicians, game developers and anyone tinkering in haptic experiences and research as the main users. When he is not working, he enjoys coaching cycling, photography (in film) and sometimes acting, which helps him to recharge and satisfy his insatiable sweet tooth.
Contacts
Linkedin: foudamo
Instagram: @foudamo
Mustapha Unubi Momoh
Systems Design Engineering
Mustapha is a MASc student of Systems Design Engineering. His research interests include 3D computer vision for virtual reality, human factors, and machine learning. He enjoys working with AI and founded Karaam Analytics Limited to provide Data Analytics services to firms and individuals.
Twitter: @MomohUnubi
Natalie Nova
MASc in Management Science, Engineering, Specialization in Information Systems
Natalie did her Bachelors of Computing at Queen's University where she specialized in Cognitive Science. She is now completing her MASc in Management Science working under the supervision of Dr. Mark Hancock. Her research interests are generally within HCI realm but more specifically how technology influences human emotion and behaviour.
Sahand Ajami
Applied Science
Sahand is Mechanical and Mechatronics Engineering MASc student. His focus is on virtual reality-based upper-limb rehabilitation for post-stroke patients.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sahand-ajami-17365b14a/
Tor-Salve Dalsgaard
Management Sciences
Tor-Salve does research on haptic interactions and experiences. He is interested in stimulating all sorts of human senses.
Triskal DeHaven
Systems Design Engineering
Triskal is pursuing a PhD in Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo, under the supervision of Dr. Lennart Nacke. He holds an MSc in Human Centered Interactive Technologies from the University of York in the UK, and a BSc in Pre-graduate Psychology from Middle Tennessee State University in TN, USA. He is also a User Experience Research for the AbleGamers Charity. His main interests include making games more accessible for player with disabilities, virtual reality, and Games User Research.
Environment
Sid Heeg
Sustainability Management
Sid is a PhD student within the Faulty of Environment for Sustainability Management. Their research focuses on the spread and effect of misinformation about farmers and agricultural practices. This extends to issues of food literacy, misinformation on digital media, and diet culture.
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.
Hector Perez Lopez Portillo
Faculty of Health
Hector is a postdoctoral fellow in the Faculty of Health working with Dr. Lili Liu. His research focuses on dementia and technology, focusing on usability and adoption. Hector likes social simulation games like Animal Crossing. People should talk to Hector if they have a problem or need to talk. He considers himself a good listener who enjoys solving problems and helping people.
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.
Luka Ugaya Mazza
Public Health and Health Science
Luka graduated with a BA in Graphic Design from the Federal University of Paran, Brazi. There, they conducted research on serious games as tools to teach medical practitioners. Currently, Luka is a MSc student in Public Health and Health Systems. Their interests include data visualisation, information design, information design systems, serious games, and games for mental health.
Marcela Bomfim
Applied Health Sciences
Marcela is a PhD Student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems (AHS), working under the supervision of Dr James Wallace. She holds a BSc in Nutrition and in Systems Analysis and an MSc in Computer Science with specialization in Human-Computer Interaction.
"My research focuses on exploring Gameful Design to improve Food Literacy among people. My research leverages Self Determination Theory to build peoples' competence, autonomy, and relatedness around food, with the aim of making people more knowledgeable and skilled when planning and selecting foods, as well as promoting a celebratory food culture bringing people to eat together."
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 interest lie in the prevention and reversal of neurodegeneration.
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.
Rachel Woo
Public Health and Health Systems
Rachel is a master’s student in the School of Public Health and Health Systems, with an expected graduation date of 2022. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Bioinformatics and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Toronto where she became interested in information visualization. At the University of Waterloo her research will centre on immersion and experience in AR games and their implications for public health. Rachel is under the Supervision of Dr. James Wallace and a member of the Human-Computer Interaction and Health Lab.
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.
Wing Lam (Veen) Wong
Public Health and Health Systems
Veen is a PhD student in the School of Public Health Sciences at the University of Waterloo and is supervised by Dr. James Wallace.
Mathematics
Alessandra Luz de Medeiros Ferreira
Computer Science
Alessandra is a P.h.D. 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 Mishra
Computer Science
Measuring incompatibility and clustering quantum observables with a quantum switch (accepted to Physical Review Letters in March 2023) - Ning Gao, Dantong Li, Anchit Mishra, Junchen Yan, Kyrylo Simonov, Giulio Chiribella
Diane Watson
Computer Science
Diane was a Ph.D. Candidate in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Waterloo. Her focus is on gamification, in particular, how positive behaviours can be encouraged through games.
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.
Katja Rogers
Computer Science
Katja is a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Lennart Nacke's research group. She completed her PhD in Computer Science at the Institute of Media Informatics at Ulm University, Germany.
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.
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.
Punit Kunjam
Computer Science, and Mathematics
Punit graduated with a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the International Institute of Information Technology, Naya Raipur, India, in 2021.
Stuart Hallifax
Postdoctoral Fellow, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science, Faculty of Mathematics
Stuart was born in the UK, moved to France when he was 10 years old, and lived there for 19 years before coming to Canada. During his PhD Stuart had the opportunity to meet Dr. Lennart Nacke at a conference in 2018 during his course on Gamification.
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.
Wenqi Zhu
Human-computer Interaction
Wenqi is an undergraduate student from the University of Manchester, majoring in Human-computer interaction. She will be joining the haptic lab and building the Haptiverse! Wenqi is interested in Brain-computer interfaces and Human-Computer interaction. If you are interested in photography or haptic and user experience, talk to Wenqi!