Karon E. MacLean is a computer scientist and mechanical engineer whose research involves haptic technology and affective haptics in human–computer interaction and human–robot interaction. Educated in the US, she works in Canada as a professor of computer science and Canada Research Chair in Interactive Human Systems Design at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

Education and career

MacLean was an undergraduate at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is consider ...

, where she graduated in 1986 with a double major in biological sciences and mechanical engineering. She earned a master's degree in mechanical engineering at to the

Massachusetts Institute of Technology The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a private land-grant research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Established in 1861, MIT has played a key role in the development of modern technology and science, and is one of the ...

(MIT) in 1988. After two years working as an engineer at the

University of Utah The University of Utah (U of U, UofU, or simply The U) is a public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah. It is the flagship institution of the Utah System of Higher Education. The university was established in 1850 as the University of De ...

, she returned to MIT for a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering, completed in 1996. She was a researcher for Interval Research Corporation from 1996 to 2000. In 2000, she became an assistant professor at the University of British Columbia (UBC); she has been a full professor there since 2010. At UBC, she is the co-founder and director of the Designing for People (DFP) Research Cluster, director of the Sensory Perception and Interaction Research Group, and associate director of the Institute for Computing, Information and Cognitive Systems.

Recognition

MacLean was given a tier 1

Canada Research Chair Canada Research Chair (CRC) is a title given to certain Canadian university research professors by the Canada Research Chairs Program. Program goals The Canada Research Chair program was established in 2000 as a part of the Government of Canada ...

in Interactive Human Systems Design by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council in 2021. She was elected as an IEEE Fellow, in the 2023 class of fellows, "for contributions to the design of haptic communication", and is a Distinguished Lecturer of the IEEE Technical Committee for Haptics.

References

External links

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* {{DEFAULTSORT:Maclean, Karon Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American computer scientists American women computer scientists American mechanical engineers American women engineers Canadian computer scientists Canadian women computer scientists Canadian mechanical engineers Canadian women engineers Stanford University alumni Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Fellows of the IEEE