Human-Information Interaction | 20 maio, INESC TEC

Abstract: When I started my life-long journey as a computing professional in 1972, a very small fraction of the population had heard about computers, let alone had seen or touched one. In those days, computers were extremely difficult to work with or use. Only a small number of people (true "geeks") were able to program computer or even be users.

Over the years and decades, various developments have taken computer from the few to the many -- have "democratized" computing. As a result, the challenges facing the field have changed, with a need to focus more and more on the non-professional user. At the same time, many functions that used to be carried out by various types of dedicated devices, have been shifting more and more to be computer-based.

I will weave my personal experiences as a computing professional, a professor, and the Chair of a fast-growing Department, with the technological development that have taken us from there to here.

I will then attempt to predict where we will be going from here forward.

About the speaker: Haim Levkowitz has been the Chair of Computer Science Department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell, in Lowell, MA, USA, since 2016. He has been a Computer Science Department at the University of Massachusetts Lowell faculty member since 1989. Professor Levkowitz is in academic research since 1982 and is a computing professional since 1972. During his tenure as Chair of Computer Science, the Department doubled in faculty (to 32 from 16) and in undergraduate student enrollment (to about 1,000 from about 500) and about quadrupled research expenditures.

He was awarded two US Fulbright Scholar Awards to Brazil. He was a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Sciences—at the University of Sao Paul, Brazil.

He co-founded and was Co-Director of the Institute for Visualization and Perception Research (through 2012). He is a world-renowned authority on visualization, perception, color, and their application in data mining and information retrieval. 

He is the author of “Color Theory and Modeling for Computer Graphics, Visualization, and Multimedia Applications” and co-editor of “Perceptual Issues in Visualization”, as well as many papers in these subjects. He is also co-author/co-editor of "Writing Scientific Papers in English Successfully: Your Complete Roadmap. He has more than 50 years-experience teaching and lecturing, and has taught many tutorials and short courses, in addition to regular academic courses. In addition to his academic career, Professor Levkowitz has had an active entrepreneurial career as Founder or Co-Founder, Chief Technology Officer, Scientific and Strategic Advisor, Director, and venture investor at several high-tech startups.