Education
- PhD, Machine Learning, University of Paisley (1999)
- MSc, Microelectronics and Microcomputer Applications, University of Ulster
- PGCE, Technology, Stranmillis College, Belfast
- BEng (Hons), Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Queen's University Belfast (1988)
Appointments
- Professor of Artificial Intelligence and Games, Ulster University
- Lecturer in AI and Games, Ulster University (from 2001)
- Senior Lecturer in Computing and AI, University of the West of Scotland (1996-2001)
- Co-founder and CTO, eXRt Intelligent Healthcare (from 2021)
Leadership and Roles
- Course Director, BSc Game Design and Development
- Tech Talk Convenor
- UG Project Supervisor
- Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
Research Funding
- Green Transition Ecosystem: Future Island-Island, AHRC, 2023-2025, approximately GBP 10M
- CoStar Network Lab, AHRC, 2023-2029, approximately GBP 5.2M
- Belfast 5G Innovation Region: 5G Film Anywhere, 2024-2025, approximately GBP 1.3M
- AI 3D Animation through VR Headsets and Inertial Devices, Innovate UK, 2024-2025, approximately GBP 5K
- Future Screens NI, AHRC, approximately GBP 6M
- BT-Ireland Innovation Centre, BT / Invest NI, 2019-2028, approximately GBP 8.5M
- Magic PCP, EU Horizon 2020, 2016-2020, approximately EUR 1M
- My-Relief PCP, EU Horizon 2020, 2017-2020, approximately EUR 0.9M
- REMIND Dementia funding, 2016, approximately GBP 4M
Enterprise Funding and Innovation
- eXRt Intelligent Healthcare spinout, from October 2021
- Innovate UK funding, GBP 300K, 2021
- Invest NI Proof of Concept funding, GBP 130K, 2022
- RAEng Enterprise Fellowship, GBP 60K, 2021
- KTP: SpecDrum 3D Virtual Forge with SpecDrum Ltd, 2022-2024, GBP 183K
- Games enhanced learning technology with Foyle Technologies Ltd, 2009-2012, GBP 100K
- Invest NI innovation vouchers totaling GBP 18K+ across simulation, gamification, and game-based learning projects
Grant Review and Editorial Roles
- Grant Reviewer, Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, from 2018
- Grant Reviewer, Suomen Akatemia / Finnish Academy, from 2022
- Co-editor, Springer Biomedical Visualisation book series
- Review Editor, Frontiers: Virtual Reality in Medicine
- Journal Reviewer across Sensors, Virtual Reality, Computers in Human Behavior, Frontiers in Virtual Reality, Biomedical and Health Informatics, Computers and Education, British Journal of Educational Technology, and related venues
Conference and Examining Activity
- Programme committee roles including ESANN, IEEE Computational Intelligence and Games, IEEE Congress on Evolutionary Computation, IDEAL, IEA/AIE, ECGBL, SIGCHI, ICDVRAT, and ITAG
- External Examiner, MSc in Visualisation, Glasgow School of Art, 2020-2024
- External Examiner, BSc Computing, Maynooth, 2012-2018
- External Examiner, MSc Postgraduate Computing, University of the West of Scotland, 2007-2012
- Revalidation of BSc Computer Games Development, Swansea Metropolitan University, 2009
Research Networks and Memberships
- Member of the University of Ulster Research Institute
- Past member of the IEEE Task Force on Player Satisfaction Modelling
- Past member of the EPSRC Computational Intelligence in Games network
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