The recipient of the 2019 award for the best doctoral dissertation completed at a Canadian university in the field of Human-Computer Interaction is Dr. Teddy Seyed.
In his dissertation, Entrepreneurial Thinking in the Design of Ubiquitous Computing, he demonstrates a multi-disciplinary approach to contextualizing the development of ubiquitous computing. Teddy’s ubiquitous devices and toolkits have opened up new areas of research and enabled both other researchers and end users to build more contextually relevant ubiquitous computing devices. His investigations have covered a wide breadth of domains and device/system types, including multi-surface systems for emergency response, physical device sharing with the Lendable Phone, and detachable screens for smart watches with Doppio. His Mannequette and StitchKit systems put prototyping power into the hands of end users and uniquely bridge the fashion and tech world with a human-centered research lens. Teddy’s scholarly work has already gained recognition through numerous awards, including three best paper honourable mention awards, and he has more than 380 citations. His publications provide evidence of an impressive record of collaboration within academics and industry.
In his well-written and very thorough thesis, Teddy weaves together elements of human-computer interaction (HCI), ubiquitous computing, physical prototyping, and entrepreneurship. He demonstrates how entrepreneurial efforts can both feed off of, and feed into, an academic research program, and provides insightful reflections that highlight where this cross-pollination works well and where it creates challenges. Teddy’s entrepreneurial reflections can provide valuable guidance to doctoral students generating HCI research products that are commercializable.
Teddy Seyed earned his PhD in Computer Science from the University of Calgary, under the supervision of Dr. Frank Maurer and Dr. Tony Tang. He has published at top-tier venues in the field, including first author publications at ACM CHI 2016; ACM ITS 2012, 2015; ACM IUI 2013; ACM ISS 2016; ACM UIST 2017; ACM DIS 2016, 2019; and IEEE 3DUI 2014. In addition, he co-founded multiple startups and a non-profit for STEAM education in Canada. He also interned at Microsoft Research twice, where he currently holds a postdoctoral research position.
Funding from an anonymous donor established this award in 2011 in honour of Bill Buxton, a Canadian researcher, designer, and musician who has done much to promote excellence in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, both within Canada and internationally. Bill challenges how academics and practitioners think, and he inspires them to do things differently. He is a true advocate for HCI.
The award is determined through a juried process by a selection committee consisting of accomplished researchers in Human-Computer Interaction. This year, the jury was Dr. Audrey Girouard (Carleton University), Dr. Carl Gutwin (University of Saskatchewan) and Dr. Robert Xiao (University of British Columbia). Dr. Celine Latulipe (University of Manitoba) facilitated the process.