Profiles

Dr. Maryam Mohiuddin Ahmed has a diverse background in international law, social entrepreneurship, and sustainability management. She completed her Ph.D. in Sustainability Management at the University of Waterloo in 2024 and was Valedictorian for the Faculty of Environment. She was most recently a joint Postdoctoral Fellow at McMaster and Waterloo, where she worked on the development of experiential learning toolkits to increase social sciences, humanities, and arts capacity for research and innovation in the social sector. Prior to joining the Stratford School, she was a Sessional Instructor at OCAD University (teaching a course in Business & Social Innovation) and University of Waterloo (teaching a course in Discrimination and Human Rights). She has worked in program development and curriculum design for organizations such as Solveable (Vancouver) and the Centre for Social Innovation (Toronto), and she is the founder of the Social Innovation Lab (Lahore), the first social enterprise incubator in Pakistan.

Jonathan Baltrusaitis, (MA XDM) comes from a film and television background, spending most of his career as a writer/editor.  His Masters Research Project examined the traditional forms of civic monument and digital documentary, merging the two via locative augmented reality to create a new form of hybrid monument. Jonathan is a Ph.D. Candidate, and is working on his current research-creation dissertation project "Space, Time and Story".

Linda Carson, Ph.D. was a Continuing Lecturer at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business and a wonderful colleague and friend to many in the Faculty of Arts and at the University. As a lecturer at the Stratford School, Linda made tremendous contributions to curriculum, teaching and community life.

Dr. Karen Cochrane's scholarly pursuits in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) revolve around creating wearable and tangible computing prototypes in mental health and accessibility. These designs serve a dual purpose: firstly, fostering constructive coping strategies for mental health and overall well-being; secondly, crafting assistive technologies for the disabled community. Dr. Cochrane’s interests delve into the nuanced realms of soma design, autoethnography, and design fiction, all geared toward understanding both the needs of academics and underrepresented communities. This understanding of lived experiences enhances the development of robust prototypes and design methods within the HCI field, empowering these communities.

Tabatha Dominguez is a Lecturer and the Associate Director, Undergrad for the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business at the University of Waterloo.

Daniel Harley teaches digital media and design at the University of Waterloo’s Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.

Kevin Harrigan is a lecturer at the University of Waterloo where he teaches courses in multimedia and computer game design and conduct research on slot machine addictions. 

Cayley MacArthur, Ph.D. specializes in human-computer interaction (HCI) research, with a focus on inclusive technologies and inclusion in technology.

Ville Mäkelä, Assistant Professor at Stratford, conducts research three related areas: ubiquitous and mobile computing, virtual reality, and games. Within these areas, he is particularly interested in assessing and further developing methods for user experience evaluation.

Christine McWebb is a professor of French Medieval Literature and Digital Humanities and currently serves as the founding Associate Vice-President, Faculty Planning and Policy. Prior to her current leadership role, she was the director of the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business and held various other administrative roles, such as interim Associate Vice-President, International Operations at the University of Waterloo.

Dr. Reza Mogavi is a postdoctoral researcher and instructor whose work combines human–computer interaction and computational intelligence to address the growing disconnect between people and AI through responsible, human-centered design. He welcomes collaboration and can be reached at rhadimog@uwaterloo.ca.

Lennart Nacke is a full Professor and the Director of the HCI Games Group at the University of Waterloo’s Games Institute. Professor Nacke teaches User Experience, Human-Computer Interaction, and Game Design at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Nacke is a pioneer in games, gamification, and user experience. As Professor of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in Games at University of Waterloo, he explores how user experience of video and exercise games can drive engagement, influence player psychology, and change human behaviours. Over the past 15 years, he has published more than 200 academic papers and a best-selling book on Games User Research. A sought-after keynote speaker and consultant, Dr. Nacke has advised organizations worldwide on effective gamification strategies. He was recognized among the top 10 HCI scholars of the last decade and the top 2% of scientists worldwide. His groundbreaking work continues to shape how we understand and apply games research and gamification.

Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach is trained in history and business, which is supplemented with real business practice. Having taught for over 20 years, Sebastian brings almost a decade of experience as a manager of a company.

Jessica Thompson is a media artist whose practice investigates urban environments through interactive artworks situated at the intersection of sound, performance and mobile technologies. Her current research investigates the ways that sound reveals spatial and social conditions within cities and how these conditions may be articulated through networked performance, gestural interaction and data visualization. Before coming to Waterloo, Thompson taught courses in sound, media and urban practice in the Department of Visual Art at Brock University and the Department of Media Study at SUNY at Buffalo.

Jennifer Whitson is a sociologist who researches the secret life of software, the people who make it, and how both change our daily lives. Her current projects centre on digital media incubators, indie game makers, and on the surveillance implications of data-driven design, respectively

Annaka Willemsen is the Administrative Officer at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business. 

Before I joined University of Waterloo, I worked with Deloitte LLP as a Senior Manager in transfer pricing (prices for intercompany transactions within multinational firms).

Leah Zhang-Kennedy, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in interaction design and user experience research, a member of the Games Institute and the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute. She directs the Safe Interactions Lab at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, University of Waterloo.

Will Zhao is Associate Professor in Organization and Human Behaviour at the Stratford School. He earned his Ph.D. from the French Grande Ecole EM Lyon Business school and pursued his postdoctoral research at Stanford University as a SCANCOR scholar. Before joining UW Stratford, Will taught for five years at an AACSB-accredited Canadian business school, where he received his first promotion to tenured associate professor and won several teaching and research-related awards at both faculty and university levels.