York University

Vice-Lead, Education and Training Committee for Connected Minds (CFREF)

Centre for Vision Research

York Research Chair in Accessible Interaction Design

Assistant Professor - Interaction Design (tenure track) in Department of Computational Arts

Social and Technological Systems (SaTS) lab tackles social challenges using Human Centred Design, Systems Design and Speculative design approaches. Current research projects focus on addressing UN Sustainable Development Goals pertaining to health and wellbeing, ageing, global health and education challenges.

The SaTS lab is part of School of Arts Media Performance and Design (AMPD).
We collaborate with health care practitioners, technology developers and community partners in project planning and execution and knowledge mobilization.

Director, Social and Technological Systems (SaTS) lab

Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research

Vision: Science to Applications

York University Centre for Aging Research and Education (YU-CARE) 

Sensorium

Fellow - Winters College

The IBET PhD Project

IBET Mentor

Toronto Metropolitan University

- Accessible interaction design using Design research and human centred design methods.
- Continue working on the projects that were started at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences.
- Co-designing interactions with older adults with dementia to develop interactive solutions to support people with dementia in their everyday activities.
- Collaborate with technology developers, healthcare services, community groups and Government organisations to understand needs of older adults.
- Quantitative and Qualitative data analysis using Observer XT, Atlas Ti and Nvivo.
- Working with Research ethicists to develop an appropriate study protocol keeping wellbeing of participants and researchers in mind. 
- Preparing grant proposals for AGE-WELL 2.0

AGE-WELL Research Fellow

Ryerson University

- Developed course content for CHIM307 - Human Computer Interfaces in Healthcare.
- Deliver lectures on interaction design fundamentals and its role in healthcare. 
- Facilitate lab sessions to design interactive products using user centred design methods.

Adjunct Lecturer

Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences

- Manage multiple trans-disciplinary projects resulting in 5+ publications, 1 successful grant and three grant applications in progress.
- Investigate barriers and obstacles in aging well among older adults using design research and user centred design methods.
- Study interactions of people with dementia with emerging technologies such as Mixed Reality to develop cue probing methodology using advanced technology such as Mixed reality and Hololens to allow people with impairment to carry out everyday activities such as cooking.
- Use of digital storytelling to understand resistance to loss of memory in people with Dementia using different probes.
- Facilitate co-creation and user study sessions to develop app for people with dementia to manage their nutrition and cognition requirements.
- Collaborate and partner with industry and AGE-WELL technology developers, health care providers, community support groups, program managers and older adults (with and without cognitive impairment) to organise user centred design workshops.
- Develop study protocols and ethics applications for evaluation by the Research Ethics Board (REB) at Ontario Shores resulting in excellent understanding of running successful projects while liaising with the ethicists and ethics committee members.
- Partnered with Inclusive Media Design & Research Lab (IMDC) at Ryerson University, Memory and Co. and GENOS clinic in a successful Catalyst grant to study feasibility of Mixed Reality systems for people with dementia.

QUT (Queensland University of Technology)

- Managed 4 transdisiplinary Design Research projects involving older adults in four different contexts that impact their daily life- mobility on public transports, houses for aged, social engagement, and active living. 
- Investigate Slip, Trip and Fall (STF) events and the causative factors that lead to these types of incidents while travelling on trains and railway stations in Brisbane. 
- Study older people’s activities in various lighting and environmental conditions in Australian homes, the objective being to develop evidence-based solutions in houses for older people to support sleep and circadian health in older adults. 
- Study needs and requirements of people (children to older adults) to participate in citizen science projects involving an underwater robot -  Rangerbot – to monitor issues facing coral reefs and identify and destroy the coral-eating crown-of-thorns starfish. I worked on the design and  development of a control interface to control Rangerbot using Design Research methods. 
- Understand technology needs of older people to maintain an active lifestyle and study the role of self service technologies in monitoring older adults’ health and well being.
- Develop study protocols and ethics applications for evaluation by University Human Research Ethics Committee (UHREC) at QUT resulting in successful management and delivery of projects in liaison with the ethics committee.
- Demonstrated knowledge of Research Design with older adults in different contexts resulting in data collection using observation methods, surveys, interviews, contextual inquiry, human centred design methods and tools, co-design methods.
- Expert Data Analyst using qualitative and quantitative data analysis methods and tools resulting in development of behavioral, interaction and perception models for older adults in different contexts of technology use.

Senior Research Associate

- Demonstrated exceptional mentoring, Knowledge Transfer (KT) and communication skills in delivering lectures and supervising undergraduate design students on following courses resulting in projects of national and international acclaim (for example 2018 James Dyson and Design Institute Australia awards) and excellent student feedback (average 4.8/5 rating).  (1) Interaction Design , (2) Design research methods, (3) Applied Design Research, (4) Design Research Methods, (5) Culture and Design, (6) Product Design and  Development.
- Established partnership between Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia and Xiamen University of Technology (XMUT) in China for a Culture and Design project where students at both universities worked together on a design project to design a vehicle for rural populations in China.
- Established industry collaborations for Interaction Design and Product Design courses where students had an opportunity to work on real world projects and with the clients and users providing feedback at every stage of the design. 
- Experience of organising design and academics events for staff and students resulting in 1 annual conference and 5 seminar and workshop events.

Lecturer and Sessional Academic

Canon Information Systems Research Australia

Design Engineer

Chipengines/Alliance Semiconductors/Xilinx, Hyderabad, India

Technical Lead/Designer Engineer

Bhabha Atomic Research Centre

Research Scientist

Academic professional in Interaction design, developing inclusive design solutions, services and technologies for people (including children, older adults and people with cognitive impairment), systems and futures. 

Experience in developing partnerships with industry, research organisations, funding bodies and users with an objective of identifying future research directions, Knowledge Transfer (KT) and developing solutions using user centred approach, resulting in several grants, awards and commercialised products.

Excellent interpersonal, oral and written communication skills with the ability to understand, interpret, and communicate complex qualitative and quantitative data as evidenced by over 25 national and international research presentations and over 10 years of didactic teaching and mentoring experience.

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