Status
Ph.D. Candidate
Human-Computer Interaction, School of Informatics
Indiana University, Bloomington
Curriculum Vitae 
Education
BS Computer Science, 2004, University of Notre Dame
MS Human-Computer Interaction, 2006, Indiana University
Ph.D. Informatics, exp. 2011, Indiana University
Contact (link to Contact Page)
919 E. 10th Street
Bloomington, IN 47408
wnryan@indiana.edu
This page describes a summary of the academic work that I have done since 2004 when I joined the School of Informatics at Indiana University. My academic career started at the University of Notre Dame Computer Science graduating in 2004. From 2004-2006, I completed my MS Human-Computer Interaction degree at IU. I am currently a doctoral candidate in the same program expecting to complete my dissertation in the winter of 2010-2011. I have also completed a doctoral minor in Cognitive Science. To see a full overview of my work, please download my CV.
I have worked with a variety of researchers from the School of Informatics, Department of Telecommunications, Department of Learning Sciences, and Department of Instructional Systems Technology. My work with these researchers and also within my own work has been about understanding the user experience, its impact on the use of interactive artifacts, and its transformation through that use. This perspective has allowed me to interact with many different technologies understanding not only the technical construction of such systems, but also the human uses that give meaning to that technology. I employee a variety of different methods in my research including in order of frequency phenomenological investigation and ethnomethodology, ethnography, interview methods, and survey methods. I have also practiced to a lesser extent with data visualization, semiotics, experimental methods, and agent-based modeling. To see a more complete description of my research, please visit the research section of my website. My publications may be found here.
Also, I value teaching highly as part of my identify as an academic. I am still a novice in organizing instructional environments for students, but both Notre Dame and IU gave me many opportunities to explore my identity as an instructor and also to demonstrate my capability at such a position. Each opportunity has given me increased responsibilities and freedom in organizing who I am as an instructor and what environment I feel most effectively affords the learning experience I desire my students to experience. I have been involved in assisting clases at both the graduate and undergraduate level, taught two summers of an undergraduate course in human-computer interaction design, and been involved in undergraduate mentorship. To see a full description of my teaching activities, please visit the teaching section of my website.
I keep a busy life. Even when not working on research, teaching, or service for my school, I have kept very active. On the right, I have posted a map of all of my travels abroad. I have loved making the journey to these places. Some of the trips I have made with my family, others for conferences, and a few of the trips (particularly the Asian trips) have been with several friends. This is a hobby I hope to keep up in the upcoming years.
I enjoy cooking. I particularly enjoy cooking different types of cuisines. I enjoy experimenting with Asian stirfry, Japanese dishes such as tonkatsu and shabu shabu, and Tex-Mex dishes including chili and burritos. Also, I love making pancakes. Lately, my fiancé has been challenging to try to match these dishes from scratch using the basic spices. It has been hit or miss so far, but it is definitely making me a better cook.
I am also an amatuer bagpiper. You can see a link of me playing for the School of Informatics on my Contact Page. I played seriously for 5 years from 2000-2005 and have since played on occasions that people have asked me to play. It is something that I have enjoyed immensely and it has given me opportunities to teach and mentor younger players, but I have not had the opportunity to keep it up. I am hoping that once I am able to get my life settled down and starting to grow roots in one place, I will be able to join a band and help them achieve what we did with the University of Notre Dame Pipe Band and Drums Corps. I along with some of the other bagpipe members, grew the band from about 8 members to over 20 members in 4 years. We even managed to produce a CD of our work from our time there.
Finally, my last love is video games. My experiences games has been vast since my childhood when we got our first NES. Some of my favorite games in no particular order have been Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Counter Strike, Civilization, Metal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto III, Mario Kart Double Dash, Katamari Damacy, Lego series games, Final Fantasy X, Super Mario Bros. 3, and ToeJam & Earl. This love of video games has certainly influenced my love of interactive artifacts and the role of learning in those artifacts. I have even been involved in one game design project that was a finalist in several competitions called Guardians of Kelthas. Video games are going to continue to play an important role in my life in the future.
