The Distance Lab team
We are building a team of exceptionally-talented scientists,
designers, artists and engineers from all over the world. We believe
this multi-faceted diversity, combined with our broad range of skills,
gives our Lab a unique advantage. Creativity is our middle
name, and the word "impossible" simply isn't in our vocabulary.
See our recruitment page for information
on how to join our team.
Executive Team
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Stefan Agamanolis
Chief Executive / Research Director
Stefan has over 10 years of experience inside the MIT Media Lab, first as a
student and later as one of the founding research directors at Media Lab Europe, its
former sister lab in Dublin, Ireland. There he led the Human Connectedness
group, an interdisciplinary team that explored the future of human
relationships as mediated by technology. His work and that of his
researchers has won a number of awards and has been exhibited in
diverse venues including Ars Electronica (Austria), the Osaka
National Museum of Art (Japan), the Victoria and Albert Museum
(UK), and the Wired NextFest (USA). He speaks and consults
internationally on a variety of digital media topics. He holds
Masters and PhD degrees in Media Arts and Sciences from the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science
from Oberlin College. He was
born and raised in the state of Ohio in the United States.
Visit Stefan's personal web site...
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Chris Moule
Commercial Director
Chris has a wealth of commercial experience having started
three of his own businesses and assisted in the creation of dozens
others. After graduating from Liverpool John Moores University
Chris joined the Rank Organisation and went through their Graduate
Management Training Programme. After moving to Glasgow in 1994 he
went on to manage a number of bars and restaurants before starting
his own catering business - Stir Ltd in 2000. After parting with
his business partner Chris went onto complete an MBA at Glasgow
University and move to a Local Development Company in the North of
Glasgow where he created the 'Young Company Development
Programme'. This successful programme helped young entrepreneurs
create over 60 new businesses. In 2005 Chris joined the
University of Strathclyde as their Enterprise Manager and set up
the Strathclyde Entrepreneurial Network. Chris worked in the
department of Research and Innovation to stimulate commercial
activity and assist in the successful licensing of technology.
When Chris isn't working he enjoys playing football and strumming
his guitar - but the thing he loves the most is spending time with
his two young children.
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Paula Nichols
Administrative Coordinator
Paula has an interest in cross-cultural communications and
inter-cultural exchange. After gaining a BA (Hons) in Chinese and
French, she lived and worked in China for nearly a decade. Paula
has more than ten years of experience in the training industry,
working with diverse clients ranging from multinationals and state
owned enterprises, to public sector and government ministries.
Paula now lives in the Highlands and is committed to local
environmental projects.
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Alan Alexander
Chair
Professor Alan Alexander retired from the Chair of Local and
Public Management at the Strathclyde Business
School, University of Strathclyde in July 2000. He has been a
member of two local authorities and of the Board of the Housing
Corporation from 1977 to 1980. In 1998-1999 he was a member of
the Commission on Local Government and the Scottish Parliament
(The McIntosh Commission). He was Chairman of the West of
Scotland Water Authority 1999-2002 and Chair of Scottish Water
2002-2006. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of
Edinburgh in 2003. He was a member of the Accounts Commission for
Scotland 2002-2008 and of the Economic and Social Research Council
2003-2009. He was Chair of Postwatch Scotland 2007-2008. In
1991, he conducted an independent inquiry into the circumstances
that led to the Western Isles Islands Council's large losses in
the collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International
(BCCI). The Report of the Inquiry, Relations between Comhairle
nan Eilean and BCCI was published by the Council in March 1992.
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Research Associates
Full-time research staff
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Andrea Taylor
Senior Research Associate
Andrea Taylor has over 10 years of design experience including
software design for interactive museum kiosks and online learning
materials, design for the web and for print, and teaching BA
interaction design and typography. After finishing her MA in
Interaction Design at the Royal
College of Art, Andrea worked at Media Lab Europe on a
visually expressive writing tool. Her current project interests
revolve around relationships and health care, specifically
internet-enabled tools for sharing health care information and
providing support to informal carers, as well as new techniques
for monitoring and managing chronic health conditions at a
distance from traditional health care outlets.
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Richard Wilson
Senior Research Associate
Richard has over twenty years of experience working in IT and
embedded technologies. He has also worked in commercial
photography and video. He worked with many large corporate
companies and SME clients in both software and photographic
services. He has designed, built and launched several commercial
electronic and software products, and worked as an IT systems
developer for the Halcrow
Group, a worldwide civil engineering company. Over the last
few years he has specialised in mobile application development
providing GPS, messaging, and remote communication solutions. He
was born in Bristol and now lives in the Highlands of Scotland.
In his spare time he enjoys trying to hit golf balls in the
correct direction, photography, painting, and trying to make
plants grow in his garden.
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Other staff
Visiting researchers, short-term research appointments,
and interns
Extended Family
key figures and advisors in Distance Lab's extended network
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Angus Aitken
Project Advisor
Angus is interested in computer software with emphasis on areas
such as human machine interaction and computer vision. He holds a
BSc Hons in Applied Computing and a MSc in Intelligent Computational
Systems both gained from the University of Dundee. Keen to expand
his range of skills he enjoys exploring other aspects of digital
media and has a growing interest in interactive media and embedded
systems. His spare time is spent participating in outdoor sports,
experimenting with photography or trying to play the guitar. His
research goal is to find new ways of utilizing technology in order
to have a positive effect on the world. Angus was a Research
Associate at Distance Lab from February 2009 to June 2010.
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Costas Bissas
Project Advisor
Costas Bissas is exploring alternative ways to experience new
technologies in a more humane manner. Having watched MacGyver at
an early age, he developed an interest for mechanical engineering,
leading to a degree from the Department of Mechanical Engineering
and Aeronautics in the University of Patras, Greece. There he
specialised in composite materials and design, carrying out
projects in the Applied
Mechanics Laboratory. He continued his education in the MA Industrial Design
course at Central Saint Martins, gaining a wider understanding of
the interface between the tangible and intangible worlds and has
since worked for design studios in London as well as on individual
projects for brands like Nokia, Tetley Tea, Axe/Lynx and Costa
Coffee (the name is just a coincidence). Costas was a Research
Associate at Distance Lab from March 2008 to May 2010.
Visit Costas's personal web site...
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Elena Corchero
Project Advisor
Elena Corchero is an experienced fashion and interaction
designer with a fine arts background and specialist knowledge in
smart textiles through work as a researcher at Media Lab Europe. Her
fashion and technology creations have appeared in fashion
exhibitions and catwalks across the world. She is exploring
textile interfaces for clothing and interiors following the themes
of keepsakes, relationships, learning and intergenerational
exchange. She holds an MA in Textile Futures from Central Saint Martins College of
Art and Design. On her free time she enjoys designing small
gifts and hand-crafted pieces for her online boutique Lost Values. Elena was a Senior Research Associate at Distance Lab from November 2007 to November 2009.
Visit Elena's personal web site...
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Mark Daniels
Project Advisor
Mark Daniels is a curator interested in smart spaces and responsive environments. He trained as an architect at Kingston University before completing the MA Art as Environment at Manchester Metropolitan University. He was the inaugural Director at Northern Architecture where he curated a diverse range of subjects including love hotels, sitooteries and science fiction cinema. As International Co-ordinator he was responsible for the look and feel of the 2004 Liverpool Biennial. An increasing interest in new media led him to Folly in Lancaster, and now New Media Scotland in 2008. He is based in Edinburgh and loves a little set jetting.
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Hilary Grant
Project Advisor
Hilary studied Textile Design at Duncan of Jordanstone College
of Art and Design in Dundee where she specialised in knitted and
constructed textiles. Since graduating in 2007 Hilary has worked
at DoJ as Designer in Residence and has also completed internships
with Alexander McQueen and Clare Tough in London. Hilary is
interested in the ways in which textile-based craft process and
technique can be explored and developed in conjunction with
digital and industrial technologies. She was a Research Fellow at Distance Lab from August 2008 to August 2009.
Visit Hilary Grant's personal web site...
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Tomoko Hayashi
Project Advisor
Tomoko is a multidisciplinary artist/designer trained in
traditional Japanese fabric dyeing and fibre art in Kyoto, the
centre of beauty, culture and tradition in Japan. This background
brings a strong sense of Kyoto's aesthetic and philosophical
values to her creative work, which explores the use of tactile and
digital media to enhance the intimacy and human connection
facilitated by contemporary communication technologies. Her
collaborative projects have been exhibited in two world-renowned
museums, the V&A in London and
the National
Museum of Art, Osaka in 2005 and 2007. Her work also reflects
her nomadic nature, having lived and worked in five different
countries, places where she has been exposed to various cultures
that together fuel the unique essence of her work. She holds an
MA in Textile Futures
from Central Saint Martins
College of Art and Design in London and Bachelor of Arts
degree from Kyoto
Seika University. Tomoko was a Research Associate at Distance Lab from July 2008 to December 2009.
Visit Tomoko's personal web site...
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Cindy Jeffers
Project Advisor
Cindy enjoys building interactive experiences, objects and
sculptures. Prior to joining Distance Lab she was an interaction
designer at the American Museum of
Natural History where she transformed scientific and
anthropological ideas into interactive learning experiences for
museum visitors. Her interest in interactivity and physical
computing stems from a previous professional path in
cinematography, which resulted in a frustration with the
intangible, passive nature of film watching and a need to touch
and interact with her work. Among other things, Cindy is
currently exploring novel technological approaches to facilitate
the process of reconciliation in post-conflict countries. She
holds a Masters degree from the Interactive Telecommunications
Program at New York
University and a Bachelors degree in Women's Studies from Barnard College. Cindy was a Research Associate at Distance Lab from September 2007 to December 2009.
Visit Cindy's personal web site...
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Matthew Karau
Project Advisor
Matt is an Electrical Engineer whose professional experience
runs the gamut from independent media art installations to
electronics design for Fortune 500 companies. As an
undergraduate, he worked in the Spatial Imaging Group
and Tangible Media
Group of the MIT Media Lab
and later worked as a Research Fellow in the Everyday
Learning Group of Media Lab Europe. Matt
is particularly interested in ambient recording methods and
devices to create digital artefacts for current and future
generations. In addition to a consulting role at ART+COM, Matt holds a teaching
position in the Digital Media Design
Course at the University
of the Arts (UdK) Berlin (Germany). He has also led courses
and workshops in a range of institutions, including the No. 2 High School
(EFZ) at East China
Normal University (China), Trinity College Dublin (Ireland),
Mediamatic (Amsterdam,
Netherlands), and the University of Design "HfG"
Karlsruhe (Germany). Matt holds a BSc (6-1)
in Electrical Engineering and
Computer Science from MIT
and a Certificate (Dux) in Cuisine de
Base from Le Cordon
Bleu, Sydney (Australia). He was a Senior Research Associate
at Distance Lab from January 2007 to August 2008.
Visit Matt's personal web site...
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Florian 'Floyd' Mueller
Project Advisor
Florian 'Floyd' Mueller is a researcher in novel interfaces
that bridge the gap between human bodies and technology. He is
best known for developing the concepts of "Sports over a Distance"
and "Exertion Interfaces", interfaces that deliberately require
intense physical effort. He applies networking technology to
activities that lie outside the realm of work-related tasks to
contribute to people's well-being despite them being
geographically apart.
Floyd earned his first degree in Digital Media from Furtwangen,
Germany. He received his second degree in Multimedia from Griffith
University in Brisbane and a Masters degree in Media Arts and
Sciences from the MIT Media Lab in Cambridge, USA.
He has extensive experience from the USA, Australia, Ireland and
Germany, where he worked for industry and academic research
organizations such as Virtual Artists, Springer Verlag, Xerox
PARC, FX Palo Alto Laboratory, MIT, Media Lab Europe and the
University of Melbourne. His last appointment was Principal
Scientist at CSIRO - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organisation, Australia, where he led the "Connecting
People" group, consisting of 12 staff, researching the future of
human connectedness. Floyd was a Research Fellow at Distance Lab from July to September 2007.
Visit Floyd's personal web site...
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Hannah Perner-Wilson
Project Advisor
Hannah started exploring alternative human computer interaction
concepts because she is upset with the way we currently interface
with computation. By breaking technologies down to a basic level,
she is able to develop her own interaction solutions and
scenarios. She first started working with wearable technology
during her studies and has since developed this practice,
publishing DIY Instructables
for individual solutions and fun ideas. Since working together
with Mika Satomi on Massage
me, both continue to collaborate on wearable technology
projects under the name Kobakant. Kobakant believes in
the spirit of humoring technology and maintaining a twisted
criticism toward the stereotypes it creates. Hannah holds a
Bachelor degree in Industrial Design from the Art University of Linz, Austria. She was a Research Fellow at Distance Lab from February to August 2009.
Visit Hannah's personal web site...
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Mika Satomi
Project Advisor
Mika is originally from Japan and currently a PhD candidate at University of Art and Industrial Design Linz, Austria. She has studied Graphic Design at Tokyo Zokei University, Media Art at Institute of Advanced Media Arts and Science (IAMAS), Japan. In her practice, her interest is to experiment with technology as a medium of expression and to understand its language capability. The main focus of her research is Play Theory by Johan Huizinga, and how we integrate technology in mechanisms of play in our time. Her favorite thinker is Ludwig Wittgenstein. Since 2007, she has been collaborating with Hannah Perner-Wilson under the name Kobakant. Their projects often involve Wearable Technology, turning one's body into an interface, creating unusual interaction between humans and machines, but also between humans (users) and humans (audience). KOBAKANT pursue their practice with the spirit of Open Source and sharing knowledge. Mika was a Research Fellow at Distance Lab from March to October 2009.
Visit Mika's personal web site...
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Board of Directors
Alan Alexander, Chair
Roland Harwood
Ian Heywood
Colin Cameron
Alasdair Lawton
Earlier staff
Joëlle
Bitton, Research Consultant,
March - June 2007
Charlie Davidson, Business Intern / Commercial Developer,
April 2008 - March 2009
Sarah White, Business Intern / Marketing Developer,
August 2008 - June 2009
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