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.
Craig S. Kaplan
Associate Professor, David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science
Craig Kaplan studies the application of computer graphics in art, illustration, ornamentation, and design. This research area is rooted in computer graphics, but involves forays into art (to study historical sources) classical and computational geometry (to develop mathematical and computational models of ornament), and computer-aided design and manufacturing.
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.
Marim Ganaba
Digital Experience Innovation
Marim joined the Games institute as UX designer and research assistant. She recently completed her Masters in Digital Experience Innovation program at the University of Waterloo. With her skills in design and background in science, she is passionate about understanding people’s behaviour then crafting products and experiences that delight and empower them. She worked under the supervision of Dr. Nacke on various projects where she helped create intuitive solutions to complex problems. Her area of interest is in human centric design, interaction and motion design.
Rita Orji
Computer Science
Dr. Rita Orji was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Games Institute, working with Dr. Lennart Nacke and Dr. Chrysanne Di Marco. Rita’s research at the Games Institute focuseed on creating persuasive games aiming to help adolescents avoid various interconnected risky health behaviours (e.g., risky sex; drugs and alcohol use).
Andrew Jian-Lan Cen
Systems Design Engineering
Andrew Cen was a systems design engineering (SYDE) student under the SWaGUR program. Andrew graduated with a BA in Speech Communication and minor in Digital Arts Communication. He researches with Human Computer Interaction (HCI) Games Group because of his passion for game design and interest in Games User Research. He is currently researching accessibility and novel input methods in virtual reality. On his spare time, Andrew is a digital designer and his primary practice revolves around photography and videography.
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.
Alexander Hodge
Research Assistant
Alexander Hodge is an audio engineer, creative technologist, and freelance software developer. He is interested in music technology in general, and especially in the way sound can influence Human-Computer Interaction.
Alvaro Uribe
IMMERSe
Brief Bio
Alvaro Uribe holds has a degree in Mechatronics Engineering from Mil. Nueva Granada University, Bogotá, Colombia and a Master's and PhD in Mechanical Engineering from Universidade Estudal de Campinas, São Paulo, Brazil.
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."
- Marcela Bomfim
Giovanni Ribeiro
Systems Design Engineering
Giovanni Ribeiro is a games user research student pursuing a M.A.Sc in Systems Design Engineering under the supervision of Dr. Lennart Nacke at UW.
Amy Liang
Psychology
Amy Liang finished her Bachelor of Arts degree with Psychology major and Human Resource Management minor.
"I am a passionate researcher interested in Second Language Acquisition. I am currently helping a couple researches testing on topics related to accented language. On August 2018, I finished a presentation on how we could use the new VR technology to help students learn English easier."
- Amy Liang
Ben Feng
Assistant Professor, Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science
Ben Feng’s research interests include mathematical modelling of complex real-life systems, computer experiment design and analysis, and Monte Carlo simulations.
Oliver Schneider
Assistant Professor, Department of Management Sciences
Oliver Schneider (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Human-Computer Interaction in the Department of Management Sciences. His research interests include human-computer interaction, haptics, and creativity-support systems, with his larger goal to establish haptic experience design and make it available to everyone. Oliver is funded by NSERC (Discovery Grant, Post-doctoral Fellowship, Graduate Scholarships), CFI and ORF, Mitacs, and an NFRF Exploration Grant. He typically attends/publishes at CHI, UIST, and haptics conferences such as Haptics Symposium, World Haptics and EuroHaptics.
Omar Gutierrez
English
"I am researching the ways in which games use nostalgia to take advantage of gamers. More specifically, I am interested in how endless sequels and re-makes contribute very little - if anything - to the series or to the genre, but then cover it up by exploiting the gamer's feels. In other words, through clever manipulation of psychological vulnerabilities and deep associations within the memories of players, a large part of the videogame industry is now in cruise control, demeaning the art and giving love [of videogames] a bad name... making millions of dollars in the process."
- Omar Gutierrez
Aynur Kadir
Adjunct Assistant Professor, University of Waterloo | Assistant Professor for Indigenous Lifeways in Asia, University of British Columbia
Aynur Kadir is an Indigenous Uyghur scholar, filmmaker and curator with a research focus on the documentation, conservation and revitalization of Indigenous cultures and languages. Her work bridges the gap between Indigenous studies in Canada and in Asia.
Maximilian Altmeyer
Mathematics and Computer Science
Maximilian Altmeyer is a researcher and PhD student at the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI) and the Ubiquitous Media Technology Lab (UMTL) at Saarland University, Saarbrücken, Germany. He holds a M.Sc in Media Informatics from Saarland University. His research focuses on using gamification elements in behavior change support systems, on factors influencing their perception and on ways to tailor them to users.
Elizabeth Caravella*
Assistant Professor of Visual Studies, Writing Department (York University)
Dr. Elizabeth (Beth) Caravella specializes in digital & visual rhetoric, multimodal composition, and game studies. Her work focuses on habituation through visual cueing in video games and how gameful design can be used to improve gamification practices, especially when gamifying the classroom. In addition to her scholarly work, she also performs humanities-based industry research for various game companies, including Blizzard Entertainment and Bethesda Games.
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