Leveling Up Leadership

Oğuz 'Oz' Buruk (he/him) is an Assistant Professor of Gameful Experience at the Research Centre of Gameful Realities, Tampere University. He leads the Gameful Futures Lab (GFL), a research group of 17 members focused on designing and developing playful sites of inquiry for exploring futures through speculative, fictional, and critical design approaches.

Max Birk (he/him) is an Associate Professor in the Human-Technology Interaction group at Eindhoven University of Technology (NL). Embedded in a diverse interdisciplinary group, he researchers cognition in games, the effects of game design on experience and behaviour, and its implications for society. His leadership experience spans group leadership, diverse roles in the international HCI community, and local and national leadership as a member of "De Jonge Akademie" and the Eindhoven Young Academy of Engineering.

Ferran Altarriba Bertran (he/him) is an interaction design researcher, currently affiliated with Escola Universitària ERAM (Girona, Catalonia) as an Associate Professor. He leads the Playful Living Lab (playful.eram.cat), where he brings together researchers, students, and other stakeholders to investigate how to design technology that supports ways of living that are joyful and project a sense of care.

Alena Denisova (she/her) is a Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) within the Human-Computer Interaction Research Group at the University of York, UK. Her research focuses on understanding and improving player experience of video games (e.g., perceived challenge) and developing and evaluating tools and methods for researching interactive experiences.

Aakash Johry (he/him) is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Design at Indian Institute of Technology Delhi where he leads the GAMES (Gaming, Augmented & Mixed-reality Experiences and Simulations) lab. His work focuses on designing serious games and playful technologies to study the affective and experiential layers of user experience in the context of play, learning, health and inclusion.

Rakesh Patibanda's (he/him) vision is to expand playful interaction by integrating human augmentation and bodily games, bridging HCI, somatic design, and public health. His leadership focuses on collaborative, curiosity-driven research that centres the body’s role in digital experiences, creating vibrant, cross-disciplinary communities that champion diverse ways of engaging with emerging technologies.

Velvet Spors (they/them) is a creative technologist and lecturer of interaction design at the Institute of Computer Science, University of Tartu, Estonia, and a remote member of the Research Center of Gameful Realities, at Tampere University, Finland. Their research centers speculative and Feminist notions of care.

Xin Tong (she/her) is an Assistant Professor at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou). Her research studies how intelligent and interactive interfaces, interactions, and games can support social good, with a focus on health, accessibility, and cultural heritage.

Rina R. Wehbe (she/her) Ph.D., M.Sc., B.Sc. is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Computer Science (FCS), Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. She directs the HCI4Good research group. Wehbe’s research is driven by the desire to drive social change for the good of all humans. Research directions include the education of individuals, promotion of equitable thought, and pro-social persuasive methods. Her work explores the boundaries of collaboration over large interactive displays in playful and serious settings. She is interested in augmenting public space using technology to promote community education and collaboration.