Dr Mai Elshehaly and Professor Mark Mon-Williams

Dr Mai Elshehaly is a Lecturer in Computer Science at the University of Bradford. She holds a PhD and MSc in Computer Science from the Center for Human-Computer Interaction at Virginia Tech, and a BSc in Computer Science from the Suez Canal University. Mai is the Director of the Digital Makers Programme (together with Dr Faisal Mushtaq from the University of Leeds), a cross-sector initiative that is building a scientific approach to the digital upskilling of children and young people in the City of Bradford. She is also the Deputy Director of the Workforce Observatory for the West Yorkshire and Harrogate Integrated Care System. Her primary research interests are in Human-Computer Interaction and Visual Analytics, particularly the human-centred design of visualisation and machine learning algorithms to support big data insights. She is a member of the advisory board for the Wolfson Centre for Applied Health Research, leads the Digital Technologies theme within the Centre for Applied Education Research, and is the University of Bradford lead for the Digital Divide theme within the Child of the North initiative (a large project organised by nine research intensive universities in the North of England, aimed at improving outcomes for children).

Professor Mark Mon-Williams holds a Chair in Cognitive Psychology at the University of Leeds, is Professor of Psychology at the Bradford Institute of Health Research, and Professor of Vision Science at The Norwegian Centre for Vision. He is also a Turing Fellow at The Alan Turing Institute (the UK’s National data analytics and AI Centre). Mark is the Founder Director of the Centre for Immersive Technologies at the University of Leeds – with Immersive Technologies being a major research priority for the University. His work on immersive technologies was headline news around the world in 1994 when he first showed the need to consider human physiology in the design of immersive technology systems. He leads the NHS ARC group responsible for ‘Healthy Schools’ and is an executive member of the Born in Bradford project (a longitudinal cohort study following the lifelong development of 13,500+ children). His research is funded by a number of organisations including the EPSRC, EEF, MRC and ESRC. He is the lead for the ‘Healthy Learning’ theme within the UK’s ‘ActEarly’ Prevention Research Programme (funded by a consortium of 20 medical charities led by the UK’s Medical Research Council). Mark has several advisory roles including being a Digital Futures Commissioner, being a member of the cross-Whitehall Data Improvement Across Government committee, acting as a scientific adviser to the Social Mobility Commission, and leading a National project on the use of data to identify and support children with vulnerabilities.