UCI Informatics

To boost digital accessibility at UC Irvine, associate professor of informatics Stacy Branham partnered with UC Irvine’s Information Technology Accessibility Workgroup to help launch the Digital Accessibility Fellowship in fall 2024. Read more: bit.ly/4lgsrXK #ICSINF

Raised by hard-working parents, Elizabeth Ankrah grounded her life in consistency, change, and community. Her doctoral research at UC Irvine explores how tech can support childhood cancer survivors as they transition into adulthood. Read more: bit.ly/4l5zWRy #UCIINF

Codazen, an innovator in creating elegantly engineered immersive digital experiences, has partnered with the Donald Bren School of ICS on a capstone project.🎉🤩 Read more: bit.ly/43w3QYU #UCIICS

From filming b-roll footage to immersing himself in the fantastic worlds of games, Tim Kashani grew up surrounded by art and creativity. His passion for storytelling and games led him to UCI to study game design and interactive media. Read: bit.ly/3EFdwXm #UCIICS

In an interview with Mashable on the benefits of "cozy gaming," Kurt Squire says "Engaging in genuine play is good for you and is restorative. Being surrounded by cuteness and/or positive things is also good." 🎮🧸 Read: bit.ly/426yTtB #UCIICS

Congratulations to the Connected Learning Lab (@TheCLAlliance) on becoming a full Organized Research Unit and opening its new collaborative workspace! 📚🎮 Read: bit.ly/4c4kIs9 #UCIICS

UC Irvine researchers worked with collaborators from Foundry10 on a technical report that offers strategies for helping youth build AI literacy: “Navigating AI as a Family: Caregivers’ Perspectives and Strategies.” 🤖📚 Read: bit.ly/3DqLD4L #UCIICS

Informatics senior Giovanna Mancinelli is driven by the psychology behind digital products and the audiences interacting with them. “It’s my job to advocate for the user," she says. Read: bit.ly/3QKebJm #UCIICS

Congrats to Chancellor's Professor Paul Dourish for receiving the ACM SIGCHI Lifetime Research Award! The award seeks out the “very best, most fundamental, and influential research contributions” in the field of human-computer interaction. Read: bit.ly/4hQhkDn #UCIICS

As a member of the 2024-25 cohort of UCI's Faculty Academy of Teaching Excellence, Kylie Peppler is collaborating with faculty across campus to make recommendations to inform UCI-wide educational initiatives around AI in education. 🎓💡 Read: bit.ly/4gvVJie #UCIICS

Congratulations to ICS researchers Steven Ngo, Jessy Ayala and Joshua Garcia for receiving a top award as one of six winners of the DARPA’s Building an Adaptive and Competitive Workforce track through the Tools Competition! Read: bit.ly/413MXnb #UCIICS

One thing that may not immediately spring to mind when we think of AI is its high energy costs. Researchers from UCI's School of ICS are tackling this problem with a new approach for completing complex tasks with small language models. 🌍 Read: bit.ly/3Q0o59a #UCIICS

According to Statista, people use media for, on average, 13+ hours a day. Gloria Mark provides strategies for mindful media consumption in her Substack article "14 Simple Changes for Healthier Tech Habits in 2025." Read: bit.ly/4jjJ5W2 #UCIICS

@AccessCompUW, a national program working to increase the participation of people with disabilities in computing fields that Informatics Professor Stacy Branham helps lead, received $5.6 million from the @NSF. Read: bit.ly/3DrZQ0I #UCIICS #NSFFunded

UCI's Department of Informatics and Department of Anesthesiology & Perioperative Care brought together physicians, researchers and software engineering students to tackle medical challenges with the MedTech Innovation Hackathon. 💻🧠 Read: bit.ly/41uMCKQ #uciics

Inspired by his dad's work in computer science, Eric Patrick discovered his love for designing playable experience for others early on. He is now studying game design & interactive media and computer science at UCI. 🎮🧩 Read: bit.ly/4f04AaV #uciics

Congrats to informatics Ph.D. student Lidia Flores for being named by Google as one of 11 recipients of its prestigious Ph.D. Fellowship in the area of health and bioscience! 🎉 Read: bit.ly/494CnOP #uciics

From Nov. 18-23, International Education Week celebrates international education and exchange, honoring the contributions of scholars from around the world — scholars like informatics Ph.D. student Maryam Hassani. 🌏📚 Read: bit.ly/3OgPTFB #uciics #IEW2024

UCI researchers received a $33M grant from the NIAID to support the UCI Vaccines for Pandemic Preparedness Center. VPPC's Data Management Core is led by Kai Zheng. 🧬💉 Read: bit.ly/40vdPMP #uciics

UC Irvine professor is focused on developing digital technologies to enhance accessibility, including a voice assistant tailored for blind individuals and an Alexa app to assist blind parents in reading with their children. @UCIbrenICS bit.ly/47zI8ne