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The Distance Lab team
We are building a team of exceptionally-talented scientists,
designers, artists and engineers from all over the world. We believe
this multi-faceted diversity, combined with our broad range of skills,
gives our Lab a unique advantage. Creativity is our middle
name, and the word "impossible" simply isn't in our vocabulary.
See our recruitment page for information
on how to join our team.
Executive Team
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Stefan Agamanolis
Chief Executive / Research Director
Stefan has over 10 years of experience inside the MIT Media Lab, first as a
student and later as one of the founding research directors at Media Lab Europe, its
former sister lab in Dublin, Ireland. There he led the Human Connectedness
group, an interdisciplinary team that explored the future of human
relationships as mediated by technology. His work and that of his
researchers has won a number of awards and has been exhibited in
diverse venues including Ars Electronica (Austria), the Osaka
National Museum of Art (Japan), the Victoria and Albert Museum
(UK), and the Wired NextFest (USA). He speaks and consults
internationally on a variety of digital media topics. He holds
Masters and PhD degrees in Media Arts and Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science
from Oberlin College. He was
born and raised in the state of Ohio in the United States.
Visit Stefan's personal web site...
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Alan Alexander
Chair
Alan Alexander retired from the Chair of Local and Public
Management at the Strathclyde Business
School, Unversity of Strathclyde in July 2000. He is now
Emeritus Professor and is a Visiting Professor at the University
of Edinburgh Management School. Alan has worked with management
teams in several major local authorities and voluntary
organisations to assist them in developing a more strategic and
corporate approach to the management of multi-purpose and
multi-functional organisations. He has also conducted many
management and organisational reviews for bodies in the public and
voluntary sectors. Since 2003 he has been a member of the
Accounts Commission for Scotland and of the Economic and Social
Research Council, where he chairs the Research Resources Board.
He became Chair of Postwatch Scotland in January 2007.
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Paula Nichols
Administrative Coordinator
Paula has an interest in cross-cultural communications and
inter-cultural exchange. After gaining a BA (Hons) in Chinese and
French, she lived and worked in China for nearly a decade. Paula
has more than ten years experience in the training industry,
working with diverse clients ranging from multinationals and state
owned enterprises, to public sector and government ministries.
Paula now lives in the Highlands and is committed to local
environmental projects.
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Researchers
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Costas Bissas
Research Associate
Costas Bissas is currently exploring alternative ways to
experience new technologies in a more humane manner. Having
watched MacGyver at an early age, he developed an interest for
mechanical engineering, leading to a degree from the Department of
Mechanical Engineering and Aeronautics in the University of
Patras, Greece. There he specialised in composite materials and
design, carrying out projects in the Applied Mechanics
Laboratory. He continued his education in the MA Industrial Design
course at Central Saint Martins, gaining a wider understanding of
the interface between the tangible and intangible worlds and has
since worked for design studios in London as well as on individual
projects for brands like Nokia, Tetley Tea, Axe/Lynx and Costa
Coffee (the name is just a coincidence).
Visit Costas's personal web site...
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Elena Corchero
Senior Research Associate
Elena Corchero is an experienced fashion and interaction
designer with a fine arts background and specialist knowledge in
smart textiles through work as a researcher at Media Lab Europe. Her
fashion and technology creations have appeared in fashion
exhibitions and catwalks across the world. She is exploring
textile interfaces for clothing and interiors following the themes
of keepsakes, relationships, learning and intergenerational
exchange. She holds an MA in Textile Futures from Central Saint Martins College of
Art and Design. On her free time she enjoys designing small
gifts and hand-crafted pieces for her online boutique Lost Values.
Visit Elena's personal web site...
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Charlie Davidson
Business Intern / Commercialisation Coordinator
Charlie Davidson is interested in business behavior and
different ways to setup and improve modern, creative companies. He
holds a BA (Hons) in Business Studies (International Business)
from the University of
Stirling. Before Distance Lab, Charlie worked with the
Creative Industries team at Highlands and Islands
Enterprise, as well as spending four years with Calico UK, a Cromarty based
Internet Provider.
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Tomoko Hayashi
Research Associate
Tomoko is a multidisciplinary artist/designer trained in
traditional Japanese fabric dyeing and fibre art in Kyoto, the
centre of beauty, culture and tradition in Japan. This background
brings a strong sense of Kyoto's aesthetic and philosophical
values to her creative work, which explores the use of tactile and
digital media to enhance the intimacy and human connection
facilitated by contemporary communication technologies. Her
collaborative projects have been exhibited in two world-renowned
museums, the V&A in London and
the National
Museum of Art, Osaka in 2005 and 2007. Her work also reflects
her nomadic nature, having lived and worked in five different
countries, places where she has been exposed to various cultures
that together fuel the unique essence of her work. She holds an
MA in Textile Futures
from Central Saint Martins
College of Art and Design in London and Bachelor of Arts
degree from Kyoto
Seika University.
Visit Tomoko's personal web site...
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Cindy Jeffers
Research Associate
Cindy enjoys building interactive experiences, objects and
sculptures. Prior to joining Distance Lab she was an interaction
designer at the American Museum of
Natural History where she transformed scientific and
anthropological ideas into interactive learning experiences for
museum visitors. Her interest in interactivity and physical
computing stems from a previous professional path in
cinematography, which resulted in a frustration with the
intangible, passive nature of film watching and a need to touch
and interact with her work. Among other things, Cindy is
currently exploring novel technological approaches to facilitate
the process of reconciliation in post-conflict countries. She
holds a Masters degree from the Interactive Telecommunications
Program at New York
University and a Bachelors degree in Women's Studies from Barnard College.
Visit Cindy's personal web site...
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Matthew Karau
Senior Research Associate
Matt is an Electrical Engineer whose professional experience
runs the gamut from independent media art installations to
electronics design for Fortune 500 companies. As an
undergraduate, he worked in the Spatial Imaging Group and
Tangible Media
Group of the MIT Media
Lab and later worked as a Research Fellow in the Everyday
Learning Group of Media Lab Europe.
Prior to joining Distance Lab, he worked as an independent
consultant throughout Europe. His personal work and consulting
works have been published and exhibited internationally.
Currently, Matt is researching ambient recording methods and
devices to create digital artefacts for current and future
generations. In addition to his research role at Distance
Lab, Matt holds a teaching position in the Digital Media Design
Course at the University of the Arts (UdK)
Berlin (Germany). He has also led courses and workshops
in a range of institutions, including the No. 2 High School
(EFZ) at East China
Normal University (China), Trinity College Dublin
(Ireland), Mediamatic
(Amsterdam, Netherlands), and the University of Design "HfG"
Karlsruhe (Germany). Matt holds a BSc (6-1)
in Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science from MIT and a Certificate (Dux) in Cuisine de
Base from Le Cordon
Bleu, Sydney (Australia).
Visit Matt's personal web site...
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Andrea Taylor
Senior Research Associate
Andrea Taylor has over 10 years design experience including
software design for interactive museum kiosks and online learning
materials, design for the web and for print, and teaching BA
interaction design and typography. After finishing her MA in
Interaction Design at the Royal
College of Art, Andrea worked at Media Lab Europe on a
visually expressive writing tool. Her current project interests
revolve around relationships and health care, specifically
internet-enabled tools for sharing health care information and
providing support to informal carers, as well as new techniques
for monitoring and managing chronic health conditions at a
distance from traditional health care outlets.
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Richard Wilson
Research Associate
Richard has over twenty year's experience working in IT and
embedded technologies. He has also worked in commercial
photography and video. He worked with many large corporate
companies and SME clients in both software and photographic
services. He has designed, built and launched several commercial
electronic and software products, and worked as an IT systems
developer for the Halcrow
Group, a worldwide civil engineering company. Over the last
few years he has specialised in mobile application development
providing GPS, messaging, and remote communication solutions. He
was born in Bristol and now lives in the Highlands of Scotland.
In his spare time he enjoys trying to hit golf balls in the
correct direction, photography, painting, and trying to make
plants grow in his garden.
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Earlier staff
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