Curriculum Vitae

Max L. Wilson

Max L. Wilson


Dr. Max L. Wilson

School of Computer Science
University of Nottingham
Jubilee Campus
Wollaton Road
Nottingham
NG8 1BB

Tel: +44 (0) 115 84 66551
Email: first.lastname@nottingham.ac.uk


Qualifications

PhD: Developing an Analytical Inspection Method for Evaluating Information Seeking Interfaces.
     University of Southampton (2009)
     Examined by: Prof Gary Marchionini, UNC

MEng: First Class Masters Degree in Software Engineering.
     University of Southampton (2005)
     Dissertation Score: 92% (Active Navigation Award, 2004)

College: A-Levels in Maths, Computing and Psychology
      Sir William Borlase's Grammar School (2001)


Research Keywords

Human-Computer Interaction, Mental Workload, fNIRS, Cognitive Activity, Neuroethics, Cognitive Personal Informatics, Information Interaction

Publications: (see full list in Appendix A)

Current Research

I lead the Brain (and Physiological) Data Group, which focuses on the role that Mental Workload plays in our everyday life as we interact with technologies. This involves a) measuring levels of mental workload as we interact with technology, b) evaluating how we experience mental workload over time, and c) the neuroethics concerns of neurotechnology becoming part of our lives. Since joining Nottingham in 2012, we have focused on demonstrating the validity and efficacy of using functional Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (fNIRS) in HCI, as a method of measuring mental workload during interaction. With consumer brain scanners now available, our research also focuses on the inevitable future of living with neurotechnology and other wearables and systems that try to estimate and track our cognitive activity. We call this Cognitive Personal Informatics, where we consider how technology will try to show us this data, what goals people will have for their lives, and what neuroethical concerns this new type of personal data creates, both personally and for e.g. employers.

Teaching and Other Presentations

I am Director for Student Experience in the School of Computer Science at the University of Nottingham, and my current teaching is listed below. Previously, I have taught HCI research methods, Interactive IR, HCI History, and Mixed Reality.

  • Introduction to Software Engineering
  • Developer Experience Portfolio

My work involves giving many other presentations, including research talks at several institutions around the UK and Europe, at expert workshops (Dagstuhls, NII Shonan), for funding bodies and steering groups, and at large international conferences. At CHI2010 and CHI2011, I led a plenary session infront of all 2,600 attendees. See invited talks below for more detail.

Technical Capabilities

Over time, I have learnt a number of languages and worked with various technologies. I primarily work with javascript, node.js, Python, Java, HTML/CSS, and SQL. In the past, I learnt languages including Perl, c++ and c#. More recently, I have begun to learn Rust, and have been developing apps in iOS, using Swift. I am primarily a mac user, with access to linux servers and virtualised windows machines.

Management and Supervision

I enjoy supervising students. I typically supervise 4-6 PhD students, 3-4 MSc students and 3-5 final year undergraduate students per year. I also mentor small groups of first and second year undergraduate students. I have a hands-on frequent supervision style, to encourage and facilitate students in improving themselves and their work. Beyond direct supervision, and the reading group that I coordinate amongst my own students, I have organised a seminar & reading group in the past, to enrich the breadth of understanding that all of our students and researchers have.

Within research teams, according to the Belbin work role evaluation (see www.belbin.com), I score highly as a mediator/coordinator.

Community Participation

Recent Awards:

Conference Organisation:

Committee/Board Membership: External Examiner Roles:
  • Brunel University, London (2020-~2024) - Digital Service Design MSc
Workshop Organisation:

Keynote Talks:

  • The HCI Perspective on IR (updated), CHIIR2024 - March 2016
  • The HCI Perspective on IR, DIR2016 - Nov 2016

Invited Talks:

  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, UCLIC, London, 2022
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, IWHEC at ChineseCHI (Online), 2022
  • Brain Data as Cognitive Personal Informatics, Nokia Bell Labs (online), 2022
  • Mental Workload as Personal Data in the Future of Work, CHI Work Series (online), 2021
  • Physiological indicators of task demand, fatigue, and cognition during Work Tasks, University College Dublin, 2020
  • Brain-based HCI - What brain data can tell 
us about HCI, University of St Andrews, Oct 2019
  • Personal Brain Data and the Future of Work, MSR Faculty Summit, 2019
  • Mental Workload Alerts, University of Leicester - May 2019
  • Search Tactics for Real-World Tech Problems, Waseda University (Tokyo) - Oct 2018
  • Mental Workload Measurements, University of Strathclyde - June 2018
  • An HCI Perspective on IR, Universty of Sheffield - Apr 2018
  • An HCI Perspective on IR, University of Birmingham - May 2017
  • Search Literacy, Dagstuhl, Germany, Feb 2017
  • Analysing Social Media Campaigns, Content Marketing Show - Nov 5th 2014
  • Evaluating Sensemaking & Learning, University of Southampton - May 2014
  • HCI & Session Evaluation, Dagstuhl, Germany - October 2013
  • Search User Interface Design, Leeds University, UK - May 2013
  • HCI & Session Evaluation, NII Shonan, Japan - October 2012
  • Search User Interface Design, Glasgow University, UK - June 2012
  • Social Media for Business Use, at Software Alliance Wales, Swansea - December 2010
  • Casual-Leisure Information Seeking, at Enterprise Search Meetup, London - December 2010
  • Casual-Leisure Information Seeking, at Gregynog Colloquium, Wales - December 2010
  • Investigating Search Behaviour with Tweet Reports, at Erlangen University, Germany - March 2010
  • Investigating Search Behaviour with Tweet Reports, at UCL Interaction Centre Seminar - February 2010
  • Workshop on Capturing and Visualising Temporal Information in eScience. Hosted by INRIA, Paris, June 2008.
  • Seminar at Swansea University FIT Lab. July 2008.
  • Faceted Timeline Interfaces at Nokia. 2007.
  • Advanced Faceted Interaction at Endeca. 2007.

PhDs Examined: