Sanjit Samaddar
Lecturer in Interactive Media

Profile

Biography

I have been at the University of York since 2012. I studied for my BEng in Computer Science at the Department of Computer Science, going on to complete the MSc in Human-Centred Interactive Technologies at the same department. In 2017, I was employed as a Research Associate in the Department of Computer Science to work on the ‘GUFO’ project. This project involved developing an autonomous drone to help older people at home and act as an early warning system to detect and notify emergency services if a fall or accident took place. Having worked with the community and external research partners, I thoroughly enjoyed the Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) research and chose to start my PhD in the area of HRI, specifically focussing on how older people use robots and user-centred design of different robots.

While undertaking my PhD, I continued in my position as Research Associate, being involved in further research projects. This included: designing and evaluating an artificially intelligent chatbot to help young people with social anxiety; helping SMEs with the usability and accessibility of their products; consulting on the IKNOWFOOD project funded by the Global Food Security Programme; and consulting on an SBRI project helping to design a digital tool to analyse complex traffic congestion data.

I joined the School of Arts and Creative Technologies as an Associate Lecturer in November 2020. I have convened the “Media Production for Interactive Environments” and “Developing Interactive Media” modules. I am currently in the second year of my part-time PhD while continuing to teach at the department.