Colloquium - Wittenburg and Ryall

After receiving his PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, Kent Wittenburg worked at the Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MCC), Bellcore, and Verizon/GTE laboratories before joining Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories (MERL). His research has encompassed a variety of Human-Computer Interaction technologies including rapid serial visual presentation, multidimensional information visualization, visual languages for diagrams, and natural language. He managed groups in natural language interfaces and internet technologies prior to joining MERL as group manager of speech and HCI. Kent became director of MERL's Cambridge Systems Lab in 2002 and then director of MERL's Technology Lab at its inception in 2003.

Kathy Ryall's research interests focus on the design of interfaces and interaction techniques to support multi-user collaboration on interactive shared surfaces. Since 2002 she has led the DiamondTouch project, developing the infrastructure for MERL's multi-user, multi-touch technology, coordinating external collaborations, and exploring its application across a variety of domains. Her research activities span the HCI and information visualization fields, with recent projects such as UbiTable, HuGS, and Intelligent Multi-Dimensional Data Summarization. Kathy received her PhD from Harvard University; prior to joining MERL she served as an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Virginia.