Profiles

Jonathan Baltrusaitis, (MA XDM) comes from a film and television background, spending most of his career as a writer/editor.  His Masters Research Project examined the traditional forms of civic monument and digital documentary, merging the two via locative augmented reality to create a new form of hybrid monument. Jonathan is a Ph.D. Candidate, and is working on his current research-creation dissertation project "Space, Time and Story".

Philip Boyle joined the University of Waterloo in July 2014 after spending two years in the Department of Sociology at York University. He holds a PhD in Sociology (2011) from the University of Alberta and has held postdoctoral positions in the School of Communications at Temple University (Philadelphia) and the Global Urban Research Unit at Newcastle University (UK).

Linda Carson, Ph.D. was a Continuing Lecturer at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business and a wonderful colleague and friend to many in the Faculty of Arts and at the University. As a lecturer at the Stratford School, Linda made tremendous contributions to curriculum, teaching and community life.

Business Technology Analyst, Deloitte Canada

GBDA offered Megala the right balance between design and business with the ability to explore and develop other interests.

Lan Do, Ph.D. is a lecturer in Business and Marketing at the University of Waterloo Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.

Tabatha Dominguez is a Lecturer for the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business at the University of Waterloo. She is one of the founding faculty members and is currently the Head of Business.

Daniel Harley teaches digital media and design at the University of Waterloo’s Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.

Social Media and Website Administrator, In Line K9's

GBDA introduced Marissa to User Experience for the first time, and gave her numerous opportunities throughout her undergraduate career. 

Kevin Harrigan is a lecturer at the University of Waterloo where he teaches courses in multimedia and computer game design and conduct research on slot machine addictions. 

When you’re a twenty-year veteran of the Canadian animation and entertainment industries, you’ve seen a lot. And you know that you need to be agile and equipped for change to stay in the game.

Sr. UX Designer, Magnet Forensics

Global Business and Digital Arts was the only program that combined Filip’s range of interests in digital media, photography and programming.

Hira joined the University of Waterloo in 2012 and teaches User Experience Design for the Global Business and Digital Arts program. Her area of interest includes digital memory, online communities, ephemeral messaging, gamification, and user experience research.

Lauren Kilgour is a professor of Design and Technology at Stratford. She was a Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Center for Information Technology Policy at Princeton University. She earned her Ph.D. at Cornell University in 2021 in Information Science. Lauren studies the relationships among information, technology, policy and society with a focus placed on the roles that information technology design plays in the social impacts of information technology. Her focus is on capturing the unintended consequences these technologies produce.

Lauren Kochanowski is the Recruitment and Admissions Coordinator for the University of Waterloo Stratford School.

Cayley MacArthur, Ph.D. specializes in human-computer interaction (HCI) research, with a focus on inclusive technologies and inclusion in technology.

​Sheri was born and raised in Stratford, Ontario. She resides in here with her husband Douglas and her two boys, Andrew and Brett, and her dog named P.K.

Ville Mäkelä, Assistant Professor at Stratford, conducts research three related areas: ubiquitous and mobile computing, virtual reality, and games. Within these areas, he is particularly interested in assessing and further developing methods for user experience evaluation.

Greg McIntyre is the Digital Media Manager at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business.  He is responsible for the instruction of undergraduate and graduate technical workshops and creating engaging content for the Stratford School’s digital and physical presence.

Greg has a Master's of Business Entrepreneurship and Technology from the University of Waterloo, and a Bachelor's degree in Honour's Psychology, Arts and Business. He draws on these educational experiences, and his background as a Media Director and freelance content creator, to help students better connect their big ideas to an entrepreneurial spirit.

Christine McWebb is a professor of French Medieval Literature and Digital Humanities and currently serves as the founding Associate Vice-President, Faculty Planning and Policy. Prior to her current leadership role, she was the director of the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business and held various other administrative roles, such as interim Associate Vice-President, International Operations at the University of Waterloo.

Lennart Nacke is a full Professor and the Director of the HCI Games Group at the University of Waterloo’s Games Institute. Professor Nacke teaches User Experience, Human-Computer Interaction, and Game Design at the University of Waterloo. Dr. Nacke is a pioneer in games, gamification, and user experience. As Professor of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) in Games at University of Waterloo, he explores how user experience of video and exercise games can drive engagement, influence player psychology, and change human behaviours. Over the past 15 years, he has published more than 200 academic papers and a best-selling book on Games User Research. A sought-after keynote speaker and consultant, Dr. Nacke has advised organizations worldwide on effective gamification strategies. He was recognized among the top 10 HCI scholars of the last decade and the top 2% of scientists worldwide. His groundbreaking work continues to shape how we understand and apply games research and gamification.

Hazel Palmer is the Academic Administrative Supervisor for the University of Waterloo Stratford Campus.

When Sam Qorbani came to Canada from Iran in 2005, he had a deep and varied background in the international construction industry that saw him work regularly with designers. Sam did graphics himself, and was a painter in oils. He found himself wanting to do work that merged his love of technology with his love of art.

Summer completed her Honours Bachelor of Arts, Rhetoric, Media, and Professional Communication with Digital Media Specialization at the University of Waterloo.

Rachel Schachter was drawn to storytelling from an early age and had dreams of working in video game development: "I enjoyed all the areas related to making games, such as development, art, design, […] but I had a limited amount of knowledge about a variety of areas to pursue it as a career.”

Business Analyst, Veriday Inc.

Calen's aptitude for business and his interest in experimenting with technology led him to Global Business and Digital Arts.

Sebastian Siebel-Achenbach is trained in history and business, which is supplemented with real business practice. Having taught for over 20 years, Sebastian brings almost a decade of experience as a manager of a company.

Lecturer, Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business

Jessica Thompson is a media artist whose practice investigates urban environments through interactive artworks situated at the intersection of sound, performance and mobile technologies. Her current research investigates the ways that sound reveals spatial and social conditions within cities and how these conditions may be articulated through networked performance, gestural interaction and data visualization. Before coming to Waterloo, Thompson taught courses in sound, media and urban practice in the Department of Visual Art at Brock University and the Department of Media Study at SUNY at Buffalo.

Jennifer Whitson is a sociologist who researches the secret life of software, the people who make it, and how both change our daily lives. Her current projects centre on digital media incubators, indie game makers, and on the surveillance implications of data-driven design, respectively

Before I joined University of Waterloo, I worked with Deloitte LLP as a Senior Manager in transfer pricing (prices for intercompany transactions within multinational firms).

Leah Zhang-Kennedy, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor in interaction design and user experience research, a member of the Games Institute and the Cybersecurity and Privacy Institute. She directs the Safe Interactions Lab at the Stratford School of Interaction Design and Business, University of Waterloo.

Will Zhao is Assistant Professor in Organization and Human Behaviour at the Stratford School. He earned his Ph.D. from the French Grande Ecole EM Lyon Business school and pursued his postdoctoral research at Stanford University as a SCANCOR scholar. Before joining UW Stratford, Will taught for five years at an AACSB-accredited Canadian business school, where he received his first promotion to tenured associate professor and won several teaching and research-related awards at both faculty and university levels.

If you’ve watched CTV London News at any time over the past 20 years, chances are you’ve seen Janice Zolf on your screen.  She’s an award-winning broadcaster, documentary filmmaker, and storyteller who has covered it all—music, art, dance, theatre, fashion, film—for everyone from TIFF to the Oscars to the Stratford Festival.