Andrew Sears

Infobox Scientist
name = Andrew Sears


image_width = 150px
caption =
birth_date =
birth_place = Newton, Massachusetts
residence = Maryland, USA
citizenship = USA
nationality = USA
field = Human-Computer Interaction
Human-Centered Computing
work_institutions = DePaul University
UMBC
alma_mater = Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
University of Maryland, College Park
doctoral_advisor = Ben Shneiderman

Andrew Sears is an American computer scientist. He is Professor and Chair of the Information Systems Department at UMBC. He is also the Director of the Interactive Systems Research Center. His research explores issues related to
human-computer interaction including mobile computing, speech recognition,
information technology accessibility, and situationally-induced impairments and disabilities. He earned his B.S. in Computer Science from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Maryland, College Park. His expert opinion on information technology and IT workforce issues have been reported by a variety of media sources.

Biography

Sears was born in Newton, Massachusetts and attended Natick High School located in Natick, Massachusetts. He pursued undergraduate studies at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, graduating in 1988 with a BS in Computer Science. Subsequently, Sears pursued graduate studies at the University of Maryland, College Park, earning a PhD in Computer Science (1993). His dissertation, titled “Layout Appropriateness: Guiding user interface design with simple task descriptions” [cite web |url=http://gateway.proquest.com/openurl?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&res_dat=xri:pqdiss&rft_val_fmt=info:ofi/fmt:kev:mtx:dissertation&rft_dat=xri:pqdiss:9327491 |last=Sears | first=Andrew |title=Layout appropriateness: Guiding user interface design with simple task descriptions |accessdate=2008-08-29 |publisher=UMI |date=1993 ] was chaired by Ben Shneiderman.

Upon receiving his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland, College Park, Sears joined the faculty of the School of Computer Science, Information Systems, and Telecommunications at DePaul University in Chicago. He left DePaul to accept a position at UMBC in 1999 and has served as the Chair of the Information Systems Department since 2002. At UMBC, he founded the Interactive Systems Research Center. He has chaired the premier conferences in the fields of human-computer interaction (CHI [cite web |url=http://sigchi.org/chi2001/ |title=ACM SIGCHI Conference on HUman Factors in Computer Systems |accessdate=2008-08-29 |date=2001 ] ) and computer accessibility (ASSETS [cite web |url=http://www.sigaccess.org/assets05/ |title=The Seventh International ACM SIGACCESS Conference on Computers and Accessibility |accessdate=2008-08-29 |date=2005 ] ). He also served in numerous other capacities on the organizing committees of these and other conferences. His research and expert opinion on information technology and IT workforce issues have been reported by a variety of media sources including ComputerWorld [cite web |url=http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=306947 |title=Career Watch: One School Boosts CS Enrollment |accessdate=2008-08-29 |date=2007 ] , InformationWeek [cite web |url=http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/training/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201002335 |title=Outreach Programs Help Pump Up Tech Degree Enrollment At UMBC |accessdate=2008-08-29 |date=2007 ] , Baltimore Business Journal [cite web |url=http://www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2007/05/21/story8.html |title=Drop in IT enrollment hits UMBC, schools nationwide |accessdate=2008-08-29 |date=2007 ] [cite web |url=http://baltimore.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2008/08/18/smallb1.html |title=Recession-proof: How to protect your job in an economy fraught with layoffs |accessdate=2008-08-29 |date=2008 ] , the Baltimore Examiner [cite web |url=http://www.informationweek.com/news/management/training/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=201002335 |title=Outreach Programs Help Pump Up Tech Degree Enrollment At UMBC |accessdate=2008-08-29 |date=2007 ] , WEAA radio, WYPR radio, and Maryland Public Television [cite web |url=http://mpt.org/publicsquare/bc/archive/2007/070201.cfm |title=Maryland Public Television: Business Connection "The IT Job Market" |accessdate=2008-08-29 |date=2007 ] . Sears, working with Vicki Hanson, founded and serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing [cite web |url=http://www.is.umbc.edu/taccess/index.html |title=ACM Transactions on Accessible Computing |accessdate=2008-08-29 |publisher=ACM Press |date=2008 ] . He is co-Editor of the Human-Computer Interaction Handbook [cite book |url=http://www.crcpress.co.uk/shopping_cart/products/product_detail.asp?sku=ER9314&pc=conventions/default.asp?m%3D9%26y%3D2008 |title=The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies, and Emerging Applications |edition=2nd edition |isbn=9780805858709 |publisher=CRC Press |date=2007 ] , published by CRC Press, which is now in its second edition.

Research interests

Sears’ research interests focus on the field of human-computer interaction (HCI) with much of his research focusing on accessibility-related issues. His early research focused on understanding and enhancing how people interact with touchscreen-based interfaces [cite journal |last=Sears |first=Andrew |coauthors= Ben Shneiderman |year=1991 |title=High Precision Touchscreens: Design Strategies and Comparisons with a Mouse |journal=International Journal of Man Machine Studies |volume=34 |issue=4 |pages=593-613] [cite book |last= Sears |first=Andrew |coauthors= Catherine Plaisant and Ben Shneiderman |editor=H.R. Hartson and D. Hix |title=A New Era for High Precision Touchscreens |series=Advances in Human Computer Interaction |volume=3 |year=1992 |publisher=Ablex |location=Norwood, NJ |isbn=0893917516 |pages=1-33 |chapter=1 ] as well as demonstrating the benefits that could be obtained by integrating information about usage patterns as interfaces are organized [cite journal |last=Sears |first=Andrew |coauthors= Ben Shneiderman |year=1994 |title=Split menus: Effectively using selection frequency to organize menus |journal=ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=27-51] [cite journal |last=Sears |first=Andrew |year=1993 |title=Layout Appropriateness: A metric for evaluating user interface widget layout |journal=IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering |volume=19 |issue=7 |pages=707-719] . More recently, much of his research has addressed issues that affect the accessibility of information technologies. Sears employs a broad definition of accessibility [cite book |last= Sears |first=Andrew |coauthors= M. Young and J. Feng |editor=A. Sears and J. Jacko |title=Physical Disabilities and Computing Technologies: An Analysis of Impairments |series=The Human-Computer Interaction Handbook: Fundamentals, Evolving Technologies and Emerging Applications |edition=2nd edition |year=2007 |publisher=CRC Press |isbn=9780805858709 |pages=829-852 |chapter=42 ] which addresses the issues involved in ensuring that individuals with disabilities have access to and can effectively use information technologies as well as the challenges that are associated with situationally-induced disabilities. Sears defines situationally-induced disabilities as the difficulties individuals experience when the conditions in which they are working, or the activities in which they are engaged, result in demands that exceed the user’s capabilities. Environment-based examples include interacting with information technologies in suboptimal lighting conditions, a noisy environment, extreme temperatures, or a moving vehicle. Activity-based examples include interacting with information technologies as a secondary task while actively engaged in providing health care, operating a moving vehicle, or participating in a meeting.

References

External links

* [http://www.research.umbc.edu/~asears/ Andrew Sears' homepage]