Featured People
Heloisa Moura
Alum; Post-doctoral researcher | Personal web site
Heloisa Moura (PhD 2008) has an interdisciplinary academic background, which combines the fields of Art, Communication, Computer Science, Design, Education, Mathematics and Psychology. Besides a Ph.D. in Human-Centered Design from ID, she holds a Master’s of Science Degree in Education and four expertise diplomas, graduate level: Computer Graphics; Internet, Interface & Multimedia; Distance Education; and Psycho-pedagogy. Her B.S. is in Mathematics.
Currently, she is a post-doctoral researcher at the Department of Informatics of the Catholic University of Rio de Janeiro. Additionally, she is the director of Sustainable Social Innovation at the Brazilian National Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, INEI. Until recently, she was the research coordinator for the ThinkeringSpaces project, an experiment in exploratory learning funded by MacArthur Foundation, which seeks to create opportunities for school-age children to learn informally and to understand the physical and virtual worlds. But her work experience goes from conducting user-centered research to designing multimedia, teaching - primary to graduate level, managing projects, developing websites and coordinating the educational technology department of the Rio de Janeiro state government, Brazil. Besides her fluency in Portuguese and English, she has language skills in Spanish, French and Dutch.
Anijo Mathew
Assistant Professor | Personal web site
Anijo Mathew is an Assistant Professor an the Institute of Design (ID) at Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) in Chicago. After his professional BArch from Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, he went on to complete an MDesS from Harvard University's Graduate School of Design. Prior to joining ID, he was a tenure track Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University's College of Architecture, Art, and Design (CAAD) where he taught in the graduate program and led the interaction design track at the Design Research and Informatics Lab (DRIL). He is currently working on a PhD at the Open University in the UK exploring the intersection of computing and design.
Anijo Mathew's research interests include interactive (computer mediated) spaces, immersive/responsive environments, environmental behavior, and HCI in the design process. His research falls within two broad categories - one a scholarship of pedagogy: looking at various methods and design mechanisms for the process of design; and the other a scholarship of research: evaluating new semantic appropriations of architecture (place) as enabled by new technologies. His work has earned international repute in organizations such as SIGCHI, ACADIA, and ARCC. In 2007 the Architectural Research Centers Consortium (ARCC) selected him as their New Researcher of the Year for 2006-07.
