People

Professor Peter Cheng

Peter Cheng is Professor of Cognitive Science in the Department of Informatics.  He founded the Representational Systems Lab upon joining the University of Sussex in 2003, and he has it led ever since.  Peter’s bachelor’s degree was in Mechanical Engineering, which was followed by a MA in Philosophy.  After a PhD in Artificial Intelligence at the Open University, Peter held a SERC postdoctoral fellowship at Carnegie Mellon University, where he collaborated with Herbert Simon building computation models of the role of diagrams in scientific discovery.

Peter’s current areas of research are:

1. The cognitive science of representational systems,
2. Cognitive learning analytics,
3. Micro-behavioural analysis of writing and drawing, and
4. The cognitive science of tactile graphics.

Some insights that have flowed from, and that now guide, this work include:

1. It is feasible to achieve a factor of two improvement in problem solving and learning in STEM topics by creating effective representations that coherently recodify the knowledge of such topics.
2. There is potential to rapidly assess learners of natural language and STEM topics by probing the organization of subject matter content in the memory of learners using sub-second temporal signals in transcription tasks.
3. Substantial individual strategic variability exists at time scales in the range of 1 to 10 seconds in people’s performance of seemingly simple tasks, such as the production of text or copying a diagram.
4. The performance of expert readers of tactile graphics can approach that of sighted readers of visual graphics and it is possible to create tactile graphics that promote such skills.

Email: p.c.h.cheng@sussex.ac.uk

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Dr. Ron Grau

My main research interest are intelligent systems that use diagrammatic representations and interactive visual interfaces to augment human perception, learning, and problem-solving. I have previously applied my ideas in the development of systems for 1) the modelling and discovery of complex, multi-domain manufacturing processes in the food industry, and 2) multi-level decision-support and impact assessment systems for large-scale mass-transportation infrastructure projects, specifically looking at the impact of proposed security measures on achieving security, leading to freedom infringements, and issues around trust and economical efficiency.

Over the last 5 years, my main focus was on teaching Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence courses in the Engineering and Informatics departments, and I am currently reinvigorating my research activities by developing a research program in the area of augmented intelligence systems.

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Dr. Frances Aldrich

I’m semi-retired from paid work but remain an active member of the RepSysLab to feed my continuing interest in research.

With an academic background in experimental cognitive psychology plus some AI and HCI, I've consistently been employed on investigations aimed at solving real world challenges, developing computing solutions where appropriate.

Since the mid 1980s I've maintained a particular interest in how to facilitate people with visual impairment in gaining better access to information in written, spoken and graphic form. This led to a long term involvement with the Reginald Phillips Research Programme on the design and use of tactile graphics in education. In more recent years it's led to a collaboration with Peter Cheng, Ronald Grau and Grecia Garcia Garcia to develop and trial software which allows very detailed recording and analysis of finger movements made during exploration of tactile graphics (the MIDAS project). Our collaboration is ongoing.

Read more about Frances' work at Sussex

Dr. Grecia Garcia Garcia

My areas of interest are on cognitive science, external representations, interactive learning environments, HCI, tactile graphics, cognitive learning analytics and AI.

My PhD is in Cognitive Science, but my first first degree is in Computer Science (which I did at The National Autonomous University of Mexico). Currently, I am working in industry and academia. My job in industry entails planning and executing web usability and UX studies, with a particular focus on cultural differences. My academic job as a Research Fellow is for the projects: Cognitive Science of Tactile Graphics (Departments of Informatics and Psychology at Sussex University); Cognitive Learning Analytics (collaboration between Sussex University and ETS); and "How to Re-Represent it?"(Sussex University and Cambridge University).

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Dr. Aaron Stockdill

My research interests cover human-like and human-compatible artificial intelligence. I am interested in the design of algorithms and frameworks to describe and build ‘intelligent systems’. I pursued my PhD in Computer Science at the University of Cambridge, UK; my undergraduate degree in Computer Science and Mathematics is from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand.

I am currently a Research Fellow associated with the “rep2rep” project: how intelligent systems can automatically select appropriate representations of information specifically tailored to a user.

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Ben Smith

I like using code to solve problems. I am currently using web technologies for my role in the Representational Systems Lab at Sussex, my background is in the fields of mechatronics and industrial control systems where I was using programmable logic controllers.

With the RepSys Lab I am exploring methods for visualising access control information with the goal of improving the ability of non-technical people to create effective and non-contradictory access control policies. The tools I'm working on will also improve communication between technical and non-technical people who are implementing access control policies and help an organisation audit their implementation of an access control policy by visually highlighting inconsistencies and outliers.

Tania Fenton

I have a background in software engineering within flight simulation and avionics industries, and more recently, software test analysis and development of automated website testing. This also involved backend testing activities to support migration of webserver and content management system to the cloud. My general interests are in user centred design with MSc in Ergonomics (Human Factors).

I am a research assistant on a Visualisation Tool development project running at Sussex and Qatar University. My work on the project is to gather and summarise insights from questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, design the experiments and test data to compare two different visualisations for access control against a baseline, and then analyse performance metrics and user interaction to determine the effectiveness of each representation.

Munirah Alwhibi

Munirah A. Alwhibi is a Ph.D. researcher in cognitive science at the Department of Informatics in the University of Sussex where she also received her M.Sc. in human-computer interaction. She is a Faculty Member at the College of Computer and Information Sciences at the Imam Muhammad Ibn Saud Islamic University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, where she received her B.S. degree in Information systems. Her research interests are human computer interaction, usable security, behavioural biometrics, cognitive profiling, authentication, and data science.

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Yanze (Felix) Liu 

I studied Computer Science at Changchun University of Science and Technology (BSc) and Dalian University of Technology (MPhil). There, I focused on object recognition and machine learning. My main research interest is understanding cognitive processes involved in drawing by analysis temporal and spatial behavioral signals and building cognitive models. I am particularly interested in investigating how chunking processes facilitate increasing working memory capacity and how internal hierarchical representation of graph is constructed.

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Dr. Kinda Al Sayed

Dr. Kinda Al Sayed is currently an associate tutor and a PhD student in cognitive science, at the Representational Systems Lab, Department of Informatics, University of Sussex. She has a PhD and an MSc in Architecture from the Bartlett School of Architecture, University College London (UCL). She is a Fellow in Higher Education Academy. She worked as a teaching fellow at the Bartlett School of Architecture, UCL (2010-2019). She served on several smart cities committees at the British Standards Institution (2014- 2016), and she contributed to PAS183 (Smart cities – Guide to establishing a decision-making framework for sharing data and information services). She has also contributed to the Digital Built Britain construction strategy working for the UK Government Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in 2014. She worked as an active researcher contributing to the Screens in the Wild project at UCL. In addition, she worked as a research associate in a project funded by EPSRC Bridging the Gaps following the success of a Sandpit Big Data workshop at UCL. The project was focused on building statistical and computational models of the relationship between spatial accessibility and the London Riots. She also worked as a research assistant at JSA Architecture & the Royal College of Arts to produce a design guide book for architects in 2008.

Dr. Kinda Al Sayed areas of interest include; Design Cognition, Architecture, and Cities.

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Rachael Fernandez

I am a Doctoral Student and Researcher working in the field of Information Visualization. I primarily create custom visualizations. I've created several visualizations for visualizing cybersecurity-related data.

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Fiorenzo Colarusso

Before starting my PhD in Cognitive Science I studied Psychology (BSc) and Cognitive Neuroscience (MSc). During my BSc I focused on psychological topics such as attention, perception, memory and intelligence while during my MSc I was mainly interested in the neural correlates of cognitive processes involved in complex problem solving both for healthy and pre-frontal disease populations. After my MSc before starting my PhD, I worked for several months at the University of East London (UEL) as Research Trainee on a project entitled "Electrophysiological correlates of the overt attention during sentence comprehension". Since I started my PhD, my research interests concern: chunking theory, diagrammatic reasoning, graph comprehension, cognitive processes of drawing, cognitive models of human performance, cognitive load theory and visuo-spatial abilities.

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Hadeel Bakr M Ismail

I’ve developed my interest in human-computer interaction when I first worked at the deanship of e-learning and distance education at King Abdulaziz University. There I worked as an instructional designer assisting instructors in developing effective online materials. In 2010 I received an MSc degree in Human-centred computer systems from the University of Sussex. My thesis then involved analysing pauses in typing to measure language competence. After graduating I continued working at the deanship for several years and then moved to the University of Jeddah to work as a lecturer in the college of computer science and engineering. I am currently a Ph.D. student at the Informatics department and am fully sponsored by the University of Jeddah. My research interest involves HCI, micro-behaviours, chunk hierarchy assessment, interaction modelling, and e-learning.

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Noorah Albehaijan

Bachelor of science and education in computer science. Master of science in management of information technology, and current PhD in informatics. I am interested generally in human computer interaction, user-centered design, e-learning, and cognitive programming learning analytics (graphical protocol analysis).

Read more about Noorah's PhD project.