I am an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Manitoba. My work focuses on understanding human interactions with robots and other digital systems. My goal is to design and develop these technologies effectively, enhancing user interactions while upholding human values such as privacy and accessibility.
My research sits at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). I employ social science methods to study technologies, particularly communication and collaboration technologies. My research objectives are to: (1) understand the usage of these technologies across diverse social and cultural contexts; (2) assess how their designs align with core social values, such as privacy; and (3) develop design guidelines, prototypes, and strategies that enhance user experience.
My active research projects include the use of telepresence robots in educational settings, the exploration of robots in public spaces with respect to privacy, and content moderation on social media to ensure fairness. These initiatives aim to create design guidelines and prototypes that enhance user experiences.
I earned my PhD from Drexel University and hold a Master of Science in Library and Information Science from Pratt Institute in New York City, a BS from the Ecole des Science de l’Information in Morocco , and BAs in both Language and Pedagogy and Linguistics from Mohamed V University. Before joining the University of Manitoba, I was a Computing Innovation Fellow and Postdoctoral Researcher in the Department of Informatics at Indiana University Bloomington.
I have received recognition and support through several prestigious fellowships and awards, including the CI Fellowshio (’21), Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Award (‘20), Phoebe W. Haas Endowed Fellowship (’15, ’17), and Fulbright Fellowship (’11). Additionally, my collaborative work has earned best paper awards at Ubicomp, DIS and OpenSym.
Currently I serve as a member of the SIGCHI Mediterranean Committee (MedCHI), the GROUP 2025, CSCW 2025, C&T 2025 Co-Chair for Accessibility and the AfriCHI 2025 Notes Co-Chair, CHI 2026 Global Inclusion Chair.
Research areas: Human-Computer Interaction & User Experience (HCI/ UX), Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), Social Computing, Privacy.
Recent News
⭐⭐⭐ Prospective students: I am looking for motivated PhD and MSc students to join my research group in Human-Computer Interaction. If you are interested in exploring how technology shapes human experiences across diverse social and cultural contexts, please email me with the following: your CV, transcripts, language test results, a sample publication, and a brief motivation letter explaining your interest in joining my group. Due to the high volume of inquiries, only shortlisted candidates will be contacted.
Grant Award. April 2025
Thrilled to announce that I have been awarded an NSERC Discovery Grant for the project “Designing Privacy-Aware Social Robots for Public Spaces.”
New Service. April 2025
Thrilled to serve as the Global Inclusion Co-Chair for ACM CHI 2026 in Barcelona, Spain
Workshop Paper. April 2025
Our CHI EA ’25 workshop paper “Weaving Indigeneity and Culture into the Fabric of HCI Futures” has been accepted. This collaboration includes Jaydon Farao, Ajit G. Pillai, Hafeni Mthoko, Marly Muudeni Samuel, Shaimaa Lazem, and myself.
Publication. March 2025
Our article “Emerging Telepresence Technologies for Hybrid Meetings: Experiences and Lessons Learned from an Interactive Workshop” appeared in the Proceedings of the 17th International Workshop on Immersive Mixed and Virtual Environment Systems (MMVE ’25). Co-authors: Marta Orduna, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Andriana Boudouraki, Pablo Pérez, Jesús Gutiérrez, Verónica Ahumada-Newhart, Pablo Cesar, and me.
Publication. March 2025
Pleased to share our CHI EA ’25 extended abstract “‘I Am There But…’: Remote Students’ Experiences of Inclusion through Telepresence Robots,” co-authored with Selma Šabanović.
New Service. March 2025
I will be serving as the Accessibility Chair for Communities & Technologies (C&T) 2025.
Invited Talk. February 2025
Delivered the talk “Designing Technology with Users’ Values in Mind” for the Preparation for Research through Immersion, Skills, and Mentorship (PRISM) program at the University of Toronto.
New Service. December 2024
Joined the organizing committee for the ACM SIGCHI Mediterranean Committee (MedCHI) Summer School 2025.
New Service. November 2024
Serving as Accessibility Co-Chair for ACM CSCW 2025.
New Service. October 2024
Serving as Notes Co-Chair for AfriCHI 2025.
Paper Accepted. October 2024
Our paper “Integrating Function and Connection: Two Perspectives to Telepresence Robot Design for Classroom” has been accepted for presentation at the 2025 ACM GROUP conference. This work is co-authored with Roda Berhane, Deo Akiode, and Swapna Joshi.
Paper Accepted. October 2024
Excited to share that our paper “Exploring Algorithmic Resistance: Strategies to Circumvent Social Media Censorship in Activism” has been accepted for ACM CSCW 2025. This work was a collaborative effort with Yarden Skop, Norah Abokhodair, Sarah Rüller, Konstantin Aal, Volker Wulf, and Peter Tolmie.
Upcoming Workshop. August, 2024
I am co-organizing a workshop titled “Beyond Video-Conferencing: Telepresence Technologies for Extending Expertise Reach and Specialized Skill Sharing” at the ACM GROUP conference. I am delighted to collaborate with Andriana Boudouraki, Niki Chouliara, Laura Fiorini, Juan Martinez Avila, Gisela Reyes-Cruz, Pratyusha Ghosh, Verónica Ahumada-Newhart, and Praminda Caleb-Solly on this initiative.
Paper Accepted. August, 2024
Our paper “Playful Telepresence Robots with School Children” has been accepted for presentation at ACM NordiCHI 2024. This work is co-authored with Jennifer A. Rode, Yifan Feng, Hanlin Zhang, Ria Rosman, Amanda S. Bastaman, John King, Madeline H. Samson, Xinyue Dong, Adam Walker, Matthew Horton, Janet C. Read, and Martin Oliver.
Paper Accepted. August, 2024
Excited to announce that our paper, “Whose Values Matter in Persuasive Writing Tools?” has been accepted for presentation at the 2024 Halfway to the Future Symposium. This work was a collaborative effort with Vidushi S. Manarya, Anasuya Venkateshwarlu, Yoyo Chan, Kata Kyrola, Yifan Feng and Jennifer Rode.
Paper Published. July, 2024
Our paper “Navigating the Cyborg Classroom: Telepresence Robots, Accessibility Challenges, and Inclusivity in the Classroom” has been published in ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing. This work is co-authored with Selma Šabanović and Jennifer Rode. Looking forwards presenting in ASSETS conference.
Paper Published. July, 2024
Our latest research titled “Articulation Work for Supporting the Values of Students Attending Class via Telepresence Robots” has been published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. Co-authored with Jennifer A. Rode and Selma Šabanović.
Position Accepted. June, 2024
I am excited to announce that I have accepted an Assistant Professor position in the Computer Science Department at the University of Manitoba. I look forward to contributing to the academic community and advancing my research in Human-Computer Interaction and related fields.
Position Accepted. June, 2024
Thrilled to share that I have accepted the position of Visiting Professor in the Information Systems and New Media department at the University of Siegen, Germany. I am eager to collaborate with colleagues and students there.
Service. May, 2024
I am excited to share that I am considering serving as the Notes Co-Chair for AfriCHI 2025. This role would allow me to deepen my engagement with the HCI community in Africa, and I look forward to the opportunity to contribute to this important event.
Upcoming Summer School. April, 2024
I am excited to co-organize a summer school with the MedCHI committee, fostering learning and collaboration in the Mediterranean HCI community.
Service. March, 2024
I am honored to serve as the Accessibility Chair for the GROUP Conference 2025.
Service. March, 2024
I am serving on the Program Committee for the MedCHI Special Issue on “Digital Crossroads: Enhancing Mediterranean Values through Human-Computer Interaction Research,” to be published in IxD&A. We warmly welcome submissions that contribute to this important discourse.
Research
My research lies at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Computer-Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). Adopting a social science perspective, I delve into the nuances of Internet technologies, particularly focusing on communication and collaboration tools. Central to my inquiry is the pivotal question: “How can we craft technologies that prioritize human values and celebrate diversity?” My aims are to: (1) discern technology usage across varied socio-cultural landscapes; (2) gauge cultural impacts on such usage; (3) ensure designs align with societal values, such as privacy; and (4) to suggest design implications and guidelines.
The following are my research themes:
Robotic Telepresence in the Classroom
Robotic telepresence offers intriguing possibilities of embodiment and presence for remote participants in a variety of learning contexts that may overcome some challenges associated with classroom attendance due to illnesses and disabilities. Nevertheless, they are not perfect. We examine the use of robotic telepresence in the classroom, learn about their potentials and limitations to inform the design of remote education technologies more broadly.
[CHI ‘18] [CHI ’19] [ICRA ’22] [CHI ’22] [HRI ’23] [DIS’23] [MobileHCI’23] [CSCW2023] [IJHCS’24] [TACCESS’24] [GROUP’25]
Privacy Enhancing Technologies and Strategies
What are Privacy Enhancing Technologies (PETs) for privacy experts and laypersons? In this project we adopt a sociotechnical lens to characterize practices and technologies perceived as privacy-enhancing, or privacy reducing, by both privacy experts and laypersons based on their own articulation of PETs ‘ use. We suggest implications for technology design practices that can help decenter the experiences of privacy experts and accommodate privacy laypersons’ preferences and habits.
[SOUPS ’20] [iConference ’23] [CSCW’24]
Developing a Wikipedia Trust Taxonomy
This project examines how a diverse global readership assigns trust to Wikipedia articles, and the strategies they use to assess Wikipedia ‘s credibility. Through surveys and interviews, we develop and refine a Wikipedia trust taxonomy that describes the mechanisms by which readers assess the credibility of Wikipedia articles.
Teaching Computing Through Computational Making
Computational thinking is considered the best practice for teaching computing and more broadly to solve problems and design systems, however as computing extends beyond the desktop so too must our educational methods. Computational making provides better ways to attract a diverse range of students to computing fields. We organize workshops for children from marginalized populations to teach computation through making projects to enable them and kindle their interest in the computing fields.
Race, Diversity and Social Values
Technology can be so empowering to some and for others it is the foundation for exclusion. Technologies ‘ designs are often western centric and less usable by BIPOC, minorities and people of non-Western cultures. I endeavor to understand technology use and values associated with technology, how our implicit biases and practices shape the artifacts we design, impact social justice in our society, and discuss how the HCI community can ameliorate the situation.
[Asist ’15] [Alt.CHI ’16] [DIS ’17] [DIS ’23] [HRI’23]
Haru, the Classrooms Pen Pal Mediator
Pen pal exchanges make learning fun and Haru can make pen pal exchanges more fun, instructive, and engaging. In this project we deploy Haru in different classrooms around the world and study how it can mediate the exchanges between them. Our objective is to bridge cultural differences and teach STEAM through project-based learning and sharing cultural perspectives.
[New Project]
Completed UX research projects
A/B Testing for EDS
EBSCO Discovery Service: a Research Study for NYU Libraries
Guerrilla testing was used to compare two interfaces, measure their usability and select the friendlier
Website Redesign
School of Information Science Website Redesign
Conducted a competitive analysis and a user study, created personas, sketches, wireframes and a prototype
Usability Testing
Books & More tab at at NYU Library website
Worked with a team on conducting a usability testing of the Books & More tab at New York University library website
Arabic Collections
A prototype for the Arabic Collections Online
Designed a prototype for ACO, a digital library of public domain Arabic language content
Teaching
Teaching resides at the heart of my academic endeavors. Unveiling knowledge, guiding students toward their potential, and drawing inspiration from their progress continually fulfill me. My teaching philosophy, deeply anchored in empathy and collaborative learning, celebrates the mutual enrichment derived from the shared experiences and insights between educators and students. In my teaching approach, a steadfast commitment to understanding each student’s unique learning needs is paramount. I employ a “Learn by Doing” methodology, intertwining a robust theoretical foundation with real-world examples and hands-on project experiences. Navigating the academic journey with empathy, I ensure that learning is not only impactful but also resonates on a human level, fostering a nurturing and inclusive educational environment.
With over three years of experience, I’ve taught HCI courses to both graduate and undergraduate students at Drexel’s College of Computing and Informatics and IU Luddy School of Informatics, Computing, and Engineering. These courses delve into the physiological, psychological, and engineering bases of designing and evaluating human-computer interfaces, covering topics such as the theoretical foundation of HCI, cognitive modeling of user interactions, task analysis techniques for gathering design information, iterative design cycles, formative and summative usability testing, and project planning and report writing.
In addition to teaching, I have had the immense privilege of mentoring several undergraduate and graduate students. I strive to understand their current skills and interests, developing projects and tasks that will furnish them with the experiences needed for their future endeavors. A standout achievement in my mentorship role has been guiding four mentees toward publications at HRI and DIS conferences recently, highlighting my focus on tangible mentorship outcomes.
Select Publications
For the list of all my publications please see my CV
2025
Houda Elmimouni and Selma Sabanovic. 2025. “I Am ThereBut…”: Remote Students’ Experiences of Inclusion through TelepresenceRobots. In Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference on HumanFactors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’25). Association for Computing Machinery,New York, NY, USA, Article 9, 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3720031
Jaydon Farao, Ajit G. Pillai, Hafeni Mthoko, MarlyMuudeni Samuel, Houda Elmimouni,and Shaimaa Lazem. 2025. Weaving Indigeneity and Culture into the Fabric of HCIFutures. In Proceedings of the Extended Abstracts of the CHI Conference onHuman Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’25). Association for ComputingMachinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 806, 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1145/3706599.3706737
Marta Orduna, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, AndrianaBoudouraki, Houda Elmimouni,Pablo Perez, Jesus Gutierrez, Veronica Ahumada-Newhart, and Pablo Cesar. 2025. EmergingTelepresence Technologies for Hybrid Meetings: Experiences and Lessons Learned from an Interactive Workshop. In Proceedings of the 17th International Workshop onIMmersive Mixed and Virtual Environment Systems (MMVE ’25). Association for ComputingMachinery, New York, NY, USA, 40–46.
Roda Berhane*, Deo Akiode*, Swapna Joshi, and Houda Elmimouni. 2025. Integrating Function and Connection: Two Perspectives to Telepresence Robot Design for Classroom. In The 2025 ACM International Conference on Supporting Group Work (GROUP Companion’25), January 12–15, 2025, Hilton Head, SC, USA. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 10 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3688828.3699633
Houda Elmimouni, Yarden Skop, Norah Abokhodair, Sarah Rüller, Konstantin Aal, Volker Wulf, Peter Tolmie. Exploring Algorithmic Resistance: Strategies to Circumvent Social Media Censorship in Activism. ACM CSCW 2025 (upcoming)
Andriana Boudouraki, Niki Chouliara, Laura Fiorini, Juan Martinez Avila, Gisela Reyes-Cruz, Pratyusha Ghosh, Verónica Ahumada-Newhart, Houda Elmimouni, and Praminda Caleb-Solly. Beyond video-conferencing: telepresence technologies for extending expertise reach and specialised skill sharing. Workshop. ACM GROUP 2025.
2024
Jennifer A. Rode, Yifan Feng, Hanlin Zhang, Ria Rosman, Amanda S. Bastaman, John King, Madeline H. Samson, Xinyue Dong, Adam Walker, Matthew Horton, Janet C. Read, Martin Oliver, and Houda Elmimouni. 2024. Playful Telepresence Robots with School Children ACM NordiCHI 2024
Houda Elmimouni, Vidushi S. Manarya, Anasuya Venkateshwarlu, Yoyo Chan, Kata Kyrola, Jennifer Rode. Whose Values Matter in Persuasive Writing Tools? 2024 Halfway to the Future SYMPOSIUM.
Houda Elmimouni, Selma Šabanović, and Jennifer Rode. 2024. Navigating the Cyborg Classroom: Telepresence Robots, Accessibility Challenges, and Inclusivity in the Classroom. ACM Trans. Access. Comput. https://doi.org/10.1145/3672569
Houda Elmimouni, Jennifer A. Rode, and Selma Šabanović. 2024. Articulation work for supporting the values of students attending class via telepresence robots. International Journal of Human-Computer Studies: 103318.
Norah Abokhodair, Yarden Skop, Sarah Rüller, Konstantin Aal, and Houda Elmimouni. 2024. Opaque algorithms, transparent biases: Automated content moderation during the Sheikh Jarrah Crisis. First Monday.
Sarah Rüller, Konstantin Aal, Norah Abokhodair, Houda Elmimouni, Yarden Skop, Dave Randall, Nina Boulus-Rodje, Alan Borning, and Volker Wulf. 2024. Ethnography at the Edge: Exploring Research Dynamics in Crisis and Conflict Areas. In Extended Abstracts of the 2024 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’24). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 578, 1–4. https://doi.org/10.1145/3613905.3643982
Yarden Skop, Sarah Rüller, Houda Elmimouni. Live from the Frontlines: The Mediation of Armed Conflict Through Online Platforms. Panel at 4S/EASST 2024.
Houda Elmimouni, Eric P. S. Baumer, and Andrea Forte. 2024. On Being an Expert: Habitus as a Lens for Understanding Privacy Expertise. Proc. ACM Hum.-Comput. Interact. 8, CSCW1, Article 102 (April 2024), 25 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3637379
2023
Andriana Boudouraki, Houda Elmimouni, Marta Orduna, Pablo Perez, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Cesar, JesÚS GutiÉRrez, Taffeta Wood, Verónica Ahumada-Newhart, and Joel E Fischer. 2023. Emerging Telepresence Technologies for Hybrid Meetings: an Interactive Workshop. In Computer Supported Cooperative Work and Social Computing (CSCW ’23 Companion). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 547–552. https://doi.org/10.1145/3584931.3611283
Houda Elmimouni, Cooper Young, Selma Sabanovic, and Jennifer Rode. 2023. Does Robotic Telepresence Make the Classroom Accessible? In Companion Publication of the 2023 ACM Designing Interactive Systems Conference (DIS ’23 Companion). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 194–197. https://doi.org/10.1145/3563703.3596631
Eike Schneiders, Andriana Boudouraki, Gisela Reyes-Cruz, Juan Pablo Martinez Avila, Houda Elmimouni, Jens Emil Sloth Grønbæk, Sean Rintel, and Swapna Joshi. 2023. Mobility and Utility in Robot Mediated Interaction: An Interactive Workshop for the Identification of Use Cases and Affordances of Telepresence Robots. In Proceedings of the 25th International Conference on Mobile Human-Computer Interaction (MobileHCI ’23 Companion). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 34, 1–5. https://doi.org/10.1145/3565066.3609791
Houda Elmimouni, Amy Kinney, Elizabeth C. Brooks, Hannah Li, and Selma Sabanovic. 2023. “Who’s that?”: Identity Self-Perception and Projection in the Use of Telepresence Robots in Hybrid Classrooms. In Companion of the 2023 ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI ’23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 287–291. https://doi.org/10.1145/3568294.3580090
Houda Elmimouni, Erica Shusas, Patrick Skeba, Eric P. S. Baumer and Andrea Forte. 2023. What makes a technology privacy enhancing? laypersons’ and experts’ descriptions, uses, and perceptions of privacy enhancing technologies. In Information for a Better World: Normality, Virtuality, Physicality, Inclusivity. 18th International Conference, iConference 2023, Virtual Event, March 13–17, 2023, Proceedings, Part II, pp. 229-250. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 13972. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-28032-0_20
2022
Houda Elmimouni, Andrea Forte, and Jonathan Morgan. 2022. Why People Trust Wikipedia Articles: Credibility Assessment Strategies Used by Readers. In Proceedings of the 18th International Symposium on Open Collaboration (OpenSym ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 9, 1–10. Best Paper Award (Top 1%)
Houda Elmimouni, Houda Elmimouni, John Paulin Paulin Hansen, Susan Herring, James Marcin, Marta Orduna, Pablo Perez, Irene Rae, Janet Read, Jennifer Rode, Selma Sabanovic, and Verónica Ahumada. 2022. Emerging Telepresence Technologies in Hybrid Learning Environments. In Extended Abstracts of the 2022 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’22). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 85, 1–5.
Houda Elmimouni, Selma Sabanovic. 2022. Robotic Telepresence to Support Remote Classroom Attendance and Interactions. Exploring the Roles of Robots for Embodied Mediation. ICRA2022
2020
Houda Elmimouni, Erica Racine, Patrick Skeba, Eric PS Baumer, and Andrea Forte. 2020. What are PETs for Privacy Experts and Non-experts. In Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security.
Kapllani, Levi, and Houda Elmimouni. 2020. Gestalt principles in web design: A study of the usage of similarity, symmetry and closure in today’s websites. Proceedings of the Association for Information Science and Technology 57, no. 1 (2020): e340.
Jung Ran Park, and Houda Elmimouni. 2020. Emoticons and non-verbal communications across Arabic, English, and Korean Tweets. Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication.
2019
Ana Luísa Sertã, Houda Elmimouni, Louise Barkhuus, Rosie Cox, and Jennifer Rode. 2019. Digital Housekeeping, Gender and Domestic Work. In Extended Abstracts of the 2019 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’19). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Paper SIG03, 1–4.
2018
Houda Elmimouni, Susan R. Fussell, Susan Herring, Carman Neustaedter, and Jennifer Rode. 2018. SIG on Telepresence Robots. In Extended Abstracts of the 2018 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Paper SIG05, 1–4.
2017
Adel Al-Dawood, Norah Abokhodair, Houda Elmimouni, and Svetlana Yarosh. 2017. Against Marrying a Stranger”: Marital Matchmaking Technologies in Saudi Arabia. In Proceedings of the 2017 Conference on Designing Interactive Systems (DIS ’17). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 1013–1024 . Best Paper Award (Top 1%)
Houda Elmimouni, Jennifer Anderson, Nadaleen F. Tempelman-Kluit, and Alexandra Dolan-Mescal. 2018. UX Work in Libraries: How (and Why) to Do It. In Developing In-House Digital Tools in Library Spaces, pp. 1-36. IGI Global.
2016
David Hankerson, Andrea R. Marshall, Jennifer Booker, Houda Elmimouni, Imani Walker, and Jennifer A. Rode. 2016. Does Technology Have Race? In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference Extended Abstracts on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI EA ’16). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 473–486.
Jennifer A. Rode, Andrea Marshall, Houda Elmimouni, and Jennifer Booker. 2016. Computational Making” (Abstract Only). In Proceedings of the 47th ACM Technical Symposium on Computing Science Education (SIGCSE ’16). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 494.
2015
Houda Elmimouni and Craig M. MacDonald. 2015. Culture and information architecture: a study of American and Arab academic websites. In Proceedings of the 78th ASIS&T Annual Meeting: Information Science with Impact: Research in and for the Community (ASIST ’15). American Society for Information Science, USA, Article 91, 1–4.
Jennifer A. Rode, Anne Weibert, Andrea Marshall, Konstantin Aal, Thomas von Rekowski, Houda Elmimouni, and Jennifer Booker. 2015. From computational thinking to computational making. In Proceedings of the 2015 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp ’15). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 239–250. Best Paper Award (Top 1%)
2014
Irene Lopatovska, Aimee Slater, Caitlin Bronner, Houda Elmimouni, Leanora Lange, and Victoria Ludas Orlofsky. 2014. In transition: academic e-book reading in an institution without e-books. Library Review.
News
Grant Award. April 2025
Thrilled to announce that I have been awarded an NSERC Discovery Grant for the project “Designing Privacy-Aware Social Robots for Public Spaces.”
New Service. April 2025
Thrilled to serve as the Global Inclusion Co-Chair for ACM CHI 2026 in Barcelona, Spain
Workshop Paper. April 2025
Our CHI EA ’25 workshop paper “Weaving Indigeneity and Culture into the Fabric of HCI Futures” has been accepted. This collaboration includes Jaydon Farao, Ajit G. Pillai, Hafeni Mthoko, Marly Muudeni Samuel, Shaimaa Lazem, and myself.
Publication. March 2025
Our article “Emerging Telepresence Technologies for Hybrid Meetings: Experiences and Lessons Learned from an Interactive Workshop” appeared in the Proceedings of the 17th International Workshop on Immersive Mixed and Virtual Environment Systems (MMVE ’25). Co-authors: Marta Orduna, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Andriana Boudouraki, Pablo Pérez, Jesús Gutiérrez, Verónica Ahumada-Newhart, Pablo Cesar, and me.
Publication. March 2025
Pleased to share our CHI EA ’25 extended abstract “‘I Am There But…’: Remote Students’ Experiences of Inclusion through Telepresence Robots,” co-authored with Selma Šabanović.
New Service. March 2025
I will be serving as the Accessibility Chair for Communities & Technologies (C&T) 2025.
Invited Talk. February 2025
Delivered the talk “Designing Technology with Users’ Values in Mind” for the Preparation for Research through Immersion, Skills, and Mentorship (PRISM) program at the University of Toronto.
New Service. December 2024
Joined the organizing committee for the ACM SIGCHI Mediterranean Committee (MedCHI) Summer School 2025.
New Service. November 2024
Serving as Accessibility Co-Chair for ACM CSCW 2025.
New Service. October 2024
Serving as Notes Co-Chair for AfriCHI 2025.
Paper Accepted. October 2024
Our paper “Integrating Function and Connection: Two Perspectives to Telepresence Robot Design for Classroom” has been accepted for presentation at the 2025 ACM GROUP conference. This work is co-authored with Roda Berhane, Deo Akiode, and Swapna Joshi.
Paper Accepted. October 2024
Excited to share that our paper “Exploring Algorithmic Resistance: Strategies to Circumvent Social Media Censorship in Activism” has been accepted for ACM CSCW 2025. This work was a collaborative effort with Yarden Skop, Norah Abokhodair, Sarah Rüller, Konstantin Aal, Volker Wulf, and Peter Tolmie.
Upcoming Workshop. August, 2024
I am co-organizing a workshop titled “Beyond Video-Conferencing: Telepresence Technologies for Extending Expertise Reach and Specialized Skill Sharing” at the ACM GROUP conference. I am delighted to collaborate with Andriana Boudouraki, Niki Chouliara, Laura Fiorini, Juan Martinez Avila, Gisela Reyes-Cruz, Pratyusha Ghosh, Verónica Ahumada-Newhart, and Praminda Caleb-Solly on this initiative.
Paper Accepted. August, 2024
Our paper “Playful Telepresence Robots with School Children” has been accepted for presentation at ACM NordiCHI 2024. This work is co-authored with Jennifer A. Rode, Yifan Feng, Hanlin Zhang, Ria Rosman, Amanda S. Bastaman, John King, Madeline H. Samson, Xinyue Dong, Adam Walker, Matthew Horton, Janet C. Read, and Martin Oliver.
Paper Accepted. August, 2024
Excited to announce that our paper, “Whose Values Matter in Persuasive Writing Tools?” has been accepted for presentation at the 2024 Halfway to the Future Symposium. This work was a collaborative effort with Vidushi S. Manarya, Anasuya Venkateshwarlu, Yoyo Chan, Kata Kyrola, Yifan Feng and Jennifer Rode.
Paper Published. July, 2024
Our paper “Navigating the Cyborg Classroom: Telepresence Robots, Accessibility Challenges, and Inclusivity in the Classroom” has been published in ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing. This work is co-authored with Selma Šabanović and Jennifer Rode. Looking forwards presenting in ASSETS conference.
Paper Published. July, 2024
Our latest research titled “Articulation Work for Supporting the Values of Students Attending Class via Telepresence Robots” has been published in the International Journal of Human-Computer Studies. Co-authored with Jennifer A. Rode and Selma Šabanović.
Position Accepted. June, 2024
I am excited to announce that I have accepted an Assistant Professor position in the Computer Science Department at the University of Manitoba. I look forward to contributing to the academic community and advancing my research in Human-Computer Interaction and related fields.
Position Accepted. June, 2024
Thrilled to share that I have accepted the position of Visiting Professor in the Information Systems and New Media department at the University of Siegen, Germany. I am eager to collaborate with colleagues and students there.
Service. May, 2024
I am excited to share that I am considering serving as the Short Papers Co-Chair for AfriCHI 2025. This role would allow me to deepen my engagement with the HCI community in Africa, and I look forward to the opportunity to contribute to this important event.
Upcoming Summer School. April, 2024
I am excited to co-organize a summer school with the MedCHI committee, fostering learning and collaboration in the Mediterranean HCI community.
Service. March, 2024
I am honored to serve as the Accessibility Chair for the GROUP Conference 2025.
Service. March, 2024
I am serving on the Program Committee for the MedCHI Special Issue on “Digital Crossroads: Enhancing Mediterranean Values through Human-Computer Interaction Research,” to be published in IxD&A. We warmly welcome submissions that contribute to this important discourse.
Paper accepted. October, 2023
Excited to share that our paper, “Shielding or Silencing?: An Investigation into Content Moderation during the Sheikh Jarrah Crisis,” co-authored with Y. Skop, N. Abokhodair, S. Rüller, K. Aal, A. Weibert, A. Al-Dawood, V. Wulf, and P. Tolmie, has been accepted for publication in PACM HCI, GROUP series.
Paper accepted. September, 2023
My paper was accepted to the ACM CSCW conference. Title: On Being an Expert: Habitus as a Lens for Understanding Privacy Expertise. Co-authored with Eric P.S. Baumer and Andrea Forte.
Service. September, 2023
Thrilled to join the ACM SIGCHI Mediterranean Committee! Honored to contribute to the HCI community in the area.
Travel grant and invitation to attend CRA-WP 2023. August,2023
I was invited and awarded a travel grant to attend the CRA-WP Career Mentoring Workshop organized by the Computing Research Association.
Invited Panelist. August, 2023
Thrilled to share that I will be a panelist at the upcoming IEEE CIC 2023-Workshop on “Exploring the Impact of Emerging Technologies on Digital Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DDEI) on the Future of Work & Education.”
Upcoming workshop. June, 2023
I am co-organizing a workshop at ACM CSCW about the “Emerging Telepresence Technologies for Hybrid Meetings” w/ Andriana Boudouraki, Marta Orduna, Pablo Pérez, Ester Gonzalez-Sosa, Pablo Cesar, Jesús Gutiérrez, Taffeta Wood, Verónica Ahumada-Newhart and Joel E. Fischer.
Service. June, 2023
I accepted the invitation to serve as Associate Chair (AC) for CHI 2024.
Upcoming workshop. May, 2023
I am co-organizing a workshop at ACM MobileHCI about the “Mobility and Utility in Robot Mediated Interaction” w/ Eike Schneiders, Andriana Boudouraki, Gisela Reyes-Cruz, And Juan Martinez, Avila, Jens Emil Grønbæk, Sean Rintel, Swapna Joshi. Check our CfP.
Paper accepted. May, 2023
My paper was accepted to the ACM DIS conference. Title: Does Robotic Telepresence Make the Classroom Accessible? Co-authored with Jennifer Rode, Selma Šabanović, and my UROC student Cooper Young.
Invited talk. Apr, 2023
I am thrilled to announce that I have been invited to speak at the 2023 Symposium of Socio-Informatics at the University of Siegen about my robotic telepresence research. I will also be participating in a panel discussion about the challenges of recruiting research participants from war zones.
Invited talk. Apr, 2023
I am thrilled and honored to be invited to speak about my Wikipedia research at the University of Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid.
Invited panel. Apr, 2023
I am thrilled to announce my invitation to join the Data Science Junior Faculty/Postdoc Panel, where I will be sharing insights on my research into robotic telepresence in the classroom.
Invited talk. Apr, 2023
I am honored to be invited by the Center of Excellence for Women & Technology at IU to give a talk about the “Progression of research from Idea to Publishing” and my experience publishing with undergraduate students.
Report published. Feb, 2023
A report on a CHI workshop I co-organized at CHI ’22 conference is published at the ACM Interactions wesbite. Title: “Emerging Telepresence Technologies in Hybrid Learning Environments.” Co-authored with Pablo Pérez, Andriana Boudouraki, Fatma Guneri and Verónica Ahumada-Newhart.
Paper accepted. Jan, 2023
My paper was accepted to the HRI conference. Title: “Who’s that?” Identity Self-Perception and Projection in the Use of Telepresence Robots in Hybrid Classrooms. Co-authored with Selma Šabanović and my REU students Amy Kinney, Elizabeth C. Brooks, Hannah Li.
Paper accepted. Dec, 2022
My paper was accepted to the iConference. Titled: “What Makes a Technology Privacy Enhancing? Laypersons’ and Experts’ Descriptions, Uses, and Perceptions of Privacy Enhancing Technologies”. Co-authored with Erica Shusas, Patrick Skeba, Eric P. S. Baumer and Andrea Forte.
Distinguished Paper Award. Sep, 2022
My paper about Credibility-Assessment Strategies Used by Wikipedia Readers, co-authored with Andrea Forte and Jonathan Morgan, got a distinguished paper award at OpenSym.
Defended dissertation. Mar, 2021
I defended my dissertation and will be joining the R-House Lab to work with Selma Sabanovic. I am excited for the new journey!
Fellowship Award. Feb, 2021
I won the very competitive CRA & CCC ‘s NSF-funded Computing Innovation Fellowship.
Dissertation Award. Dec, 2020
I am so thrilled that my dissertation won the Eugene Garfield Doctoral Dissertation Award by Beta Phi Mu.
Teaching Award. May, 2018
I am honored to receive the Highly Commended Teaching Assistant award from the Graduate College at Drexel University.
Best paper award. Jun, 2017
My paper with Adel Al Dawood, Norah Abokhodair and Lana Yarosh, titled “Against Marrying a Stranger: Marital Matchmaking Technologies in Saudi Arabia”, won the Best Paper Award at DIS.
Fellowship Award. May, 2017
Phoebe W. Haas Endowed Fellowship for Academic Achievement.
Best paper award. Sep, 2015
My paper with Jennifer Rode et al., titled “From Computational Thinking to Computational Making” received the Ubicomp 2015 Best Paper Award.
Travel Award from Google. Sep, 2019
I am so excited to attend the GHC with support from Google