Computer Science Researcher Awarded One of UBC's Most Prestigious Prizes

Karon MacClean, Associate Professor with the Department of Computer Science, has been awarded one of UBC's most prestigious research prizes, the Charles A McDowell Award.

MacClean is working to study and improve how humans interact and communicate physically with computers. That includes developing haptic, or 'touch' language which will be the basis of physical communication with computers, and devising better ways of evaluating how well physical and multisensory interfaces work.

The McDowell Award goes to an outstanding young UBC faculty member who has demonstrated excellence in pure or applied scientific research. Recipients must be receiving research funding from NSERC and be no more than 12 years removed from their PhD.

Established in 1985, the award is named in honour of Professor Emeritus Charles McDowell, head of UBC’s Chemistry Department from 1955 until 1981. An internationally recognized researcher in physical chemistry, he was awarded fellowships from the Royal Institute of Chemistry, The Royal Society of Canada and the Guggenheim Foundation, and named an officer of the Order of Canada.