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Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science

UVic Researchers Help Launch Inaugural Salish SIGCHI Celebration of Research

6 researchers stand on stage at a conference.
Left to right: Barrett Ens (UBC-O), Alexandra Kitson (UVic), Parmit Chilana (SFU), Regan Mandryk (UVic), Eva Mackamul (SFU), Sowmya Somanath (UVic), Kevin Chow (UBC).

Faculty and students from the University of Victoria's Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science took part in the inaugural Salish SIGCHI Celebration of Research, a day-long gathering of BC-based human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers held at Simon Fraser University. The event focused on HCI in the age of AI, bringing together academics and students from across the region to share current work in the field and discuss future research in human-computer interaction in an age of AI.

The event, which attracted around 100 attendees from across BC, was chaired by Regan Mandryk, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Digital Gaming and Immersive Social Technologies, who currently also serves as Acting Associate Dean, Research for the Faculty. Mandryk is president of the newly formed Salish SIGCHI chapter.

Four UVic professors attended, along with a dozen graduate and undergraduate students. Mandryk organized the event's tracks alongside Sowmya Somanath and Alex Kitson. Somanath also served as a panelist for the "Rethinking HCI Education in the Age of AI panel", and Miguel Nacenta was a panelist for "After the Hype: What Actually Survives and Thrives in HCI?"

Several UVic graduate students presented their research at the event, including Laura Paul, Elizabeth Reid, Molly Stewart, Sabrina Lakhdhir, Wei Wei and Yichun Zhao.

The event received support from SeAIR, a UVic research cluster focused on Societally-Engaged AI and Robotics. SeAIR's leadership includes Mandryk and Homayoun Najjaran, from the Faculty of Engineering and Computer Science, and Audrey Yap from the Department of Philosophy. The cluster's mandate is to provide events and resources that help launch major initiatives at UVic in this fast-moving research area.