Hello, and welcome to my website! My name is Laura Maye. I am a postdoctoral researcher in Human and People Centred Computing at University College Cork (UCC), Ireland. I hold strong skills researching and teaching in object-oriented programming, tangible interaction, and internet-of- things computing.
As well as tangible computing, my research interests include technology for supporting customisation/do-it-yourself for end users in context, with particular focuses in cultural heritage, community, and healthcare. I have over seven years’ experience applying qualitative methods and methodologies, including co-design, ethnography, user-centred design, and action research. Particularly, I enjoys bridging my research and activities with local communities, having also volunteered at the Hunt Museum, Limerick, Ireland between 2013 and 2017 to connect research activities.
I have been involved in three large scale, multinational projects while based in Ireland and Finland. At UCC, I am involved in the Grassroots Radio, an EU Horizon 2020 innovation project which involves working toward solutions to lower the barriers of setting up community radio stations for remote and rural communities. It aims to support communities being involved in local media and local decision making. Particularly, the project is employing a took called RootIO, which enables community members to broadcast and host radio shows using a basic mobile phone. At Aalto University, I was employed as postdoctoral researcher on the NordForsk funded ActivABLES project, which was geared toward Tangible Interaction to Support Effective and Usable Stroke Rehabilitation at Home. The project was geared especially toward supporting engagement in rehabilitation, particularly to encourage continuous rehabilitation. My focus on this project was on the design process. I was also involved in the EU FP7 funded project meSch, which also funded my Ph.D. study. As part of meSch, I have been part of a large research and design team investigating co-design approaches in cultural heritage.
I obtained my Ph.D. at the Interaction Design Centre, University of Limerick, Ireland in January 2017, which spanned between HCI and cultural heritage and investigated technology adoption in small museums. Particularly, my study focused on how curators and other professionals in small museums respond to their evolving involvement in designing visitor activities incorporating interactive technologies. My PhD was supervised by Dr. Gabriela Avram and Dr. Luigina Ciolfi (based in Sheffield Hallam University).
I have been involved in many teaching activities at the Interaction Design Centre, University of Limerick (UL) as module leader and teaching assistant at UL and Aalto University. My subject areas range from programming (java), web development (HTML, CSS, javascript, SQL, python), HCI and Interaction Design (methodologies – particularly human-centred approaches). See my teaching page for more information and teaching activities that I have been involved in.
I also enjoy playing some instrumental acoustic guitar when I find the time. As they say, music heals the soul and helps to unleash the creativity within!
Laura Maye 