Curriculum Vitae
Work Experience
Fall 2003 - present
Rochester, NY
Assistant Professor
Faculty member in the Golisano College of Computing and Information Sciences, Interactive Games and Media department. Instruction in new media development, human-computer interaction, experience design and physical computing.
Summer 2001
New York, NY
Quality Assurance Analyst
MIDI and serial communication testing specialist for first release of Production Designer, theatrical show control software.
2000 - August
New York, NY
Information Architect
Produce task analyses, usage scenarios, site architecture maps, and site schematic prototypes for corporate websites.
1993 - 1999
Richland, WA
IT Research Scientist
Based on customer needs and an iterative feedback process (using Photoshop mock-ups and interactive Director prototypes) designed user interfaces for information visualization and analysis software development projects. Co-wrote white papers and project proposals, and produced online user manuals.
Development and interface design for web-based collaboration software. Responsibilities included CGI server development for the web-based Electronic Notebook and the website registration system, plus website design and development in HTML.
Developed interactive CD-ROMs and presentations in Director and PowerPoint for customers and for internal strategic use.
As part of the Battelle Technical Assistance Program, conducted training in Director for a local new media company.
Key contributor to the initial architecture and design of Pachelbel, a WWW-based structured learning environment which has since been tailored to instruct on a variety of subjects, such as the information technology capabilities of PNNL.
User interface design lead and member of GIS programming team for the FEMIS, an emergency management support system integrating several off-the-shelf software tools with a Visual Basic front end. Led customer group needs analysis, feedback, and software testing sessions.
Past projects also include developing a data collection application in Director for detecting threats depicted in Quicktime movies, and creating an appealing, easy-to-use interface in Visual Basic for a textile product sourcing database from Auburn University.
1990 - 1993
Atlanta, GA
Graduate Assistant, Human-Machine Systems
Designed system which adapts a visually-oriented intelligent tutor into an intelligent computer assistant for aiding satellite ground control analysts. Upgraded research software (including a real-time, object-oriented simulation and a tutoring system) to run in a UNIX Motif environment using the TAE graphical user interface builder and a combination of C and C++ modules.
Education
2000 - 2002
M. P. S. Interactive Telecommunications
Tisch School of the ArtsNew York University
New York, NY
Thesis project: the Soft Wall. A wall of spandex becomes a dance set piece. As a dancer presses into the fabric, sensors along the fabric's edge send MIDI signals to a laptop to control sound, lights, and even the video projected onto the Soft Wall.
1990 - 1993
B. S. Computer Engineering (dual Engineering & Public Policy)
Carnegie Mellon UniversityPittsburgh, PA
1986
Gloucester High School (valedictorian)
Gloucester, VAPublications & Presentations
2009
Tangible Experience Design: An educational bridge between Industrial Design and Computing
Harris, W. Presented at HASTAC III: Traversing Digital Boundaries, Urbana, IL (Slideshare).2006
Hairline Cracks, from Weblog to Performance
Oyzon, E., W. Harris, J. Suarez. Presented at (re)Actor: The 1st Int. Conference on Digital Live Art, London, UK.2005
Hairline Cracks
Harris, W., E. Oyzon, J. Suarez. Presented at the Expressions of Diversity Conference, Rochester Institute of Technology, Rochester, NY.2004
Transient Reformations: Transforming Place Through Projection
Harris, W. Proc. of the Media Ecology Association, Vol. 5, Rochester, NY.1998
Visualizing the Full Spectrum of Document Relationships
Hetzler, B., W. Harris, S. Havre, P. Whitney. Proc. of the 5th Int. ISKO Conference: Structures and Relations in Knowledge Organization. Lille, France.1997
Sonic Exploration of Thematic Information
LoPresti, E. and W. Harris. Proc. of the Audio Engineering Society 102nd Convention, Munich, Germany.Initial Test and Evaluation of the Millimeter-Wave Holographic Surveillance System
McMakin, D., D. Sheen, A. Schur, W. Harris, G. Piepel. SPIE Proceedings Vol. 2932. Boston, MA.1996
loudSPIRE, an Auditory Display Schema for the SPIRE System
LoPresti, E. and W. Harris. Proc. of the Int. Conference on Auditory Display (ICAD96), Palo Alto, CA.Exhibitions
2009
RGB Dresses
Harris, W. Exhibited at the Artech Digital Art Exhibition at ArtAwake, Rochester, NY.2008
Mud Flaps I & II
Harris, W. Exhibited at "Open-Mic Feminist Performance Party" at the Spark Contemporary Art Space, Syracuse, NY.Mud Flaps I & II
Mixed media
Harris, W. Exhibited at "Highways & Byways: American Road Culture", a juried show of the Schweinfurth Memorial Art Center, Auburn, NY.SummerLakeEating
Video installation
Fractured Time
Interactive video projection
Harris, W. Exhibited at the Artech Digital Art Exhibition, Rochester, NY.2007
A Time for Everything
Dance and sound-reactive video-projected set
Suarez, J., K. Saleem, W. Harris, E. Oyzon. Performed at the ImageMovementSound Festival, Rochester, NY.2006
Hairline Cracks
Dance and interactive light painting within video-projected set
Suarez, J., W. Harris, E. Oyzon. Invited performance for the Susan B. Anthony Commemoration Year at SUNY Geneseo, Geneseo, NY.Upper NY Bay: 2001
Interactive video projection
Harris, W. Exhibited at the GCCIS Digital Arts Competition, Rochester, NY.Woman Hanging On
Dance with video-projected set
Suarez, J., W. Harris, E. Oyzon. Performed at the ImageMovementSound Festival, Rochester, NY.2005
Hairline Cracks
Suarez, J., W. Harris, E. Oyzon. Performed at SUNY Brockport DanScore, Brockport, NY.Hairline Cracks
Suarez, J., W. Harris, E. Oyzon. Invited performance for the National Dance Education Organization Conference, Buffalo, NY.Hairline Cracks
Suarez, J., W. Harris, E. Oyzon. Performed at the ImageMovementSound Festival, Rochester, NY.2004
Laser Stripe
Interactive disco platform
Donadee, J., Harris, W., Smith, A. Exhibited at the RIT Brick City Interactive Dance Club, Rochester, NY.Mediated Sentinel
Interactive video projection
Harris, W. with E. Oyzon. Performed at the Media Ecology Association 5th Convention, Rochester, NY.My Dress Hangs There
Dance within a sculptural and video-projected set
Suarez, J., W. Harris, S. Yang. Performed at the ImageMovementSound Festival, Rochester, NY.2002
Natural Light
Electronic wall sculpture
Harris, W. Exhibited at "A Tribute to All Things Magical", a juried show of the Del Ray Artisans Gallery, Arlington, VA.Wave Shadows
Dance with the Soft Wall - invented fabric instrument to control music, lights, and projected video
Harris, W. Performed at the NYU/ITP Spring Show, New York, NY.MicWrapper - Baby, I Love You
Singing with the MicWrapper, an invented MIDI instrument
Harris, W. Performed at the NYU/ITP Spring Show, New York, NY.2001
Squaring the Circle
Interactive hopscotch design for dance within a multi-video set
Harris, W. Used in performance by the AMDaT dance company in the Maria Hernandez Park, New York, NY.Honors
2009
Artech Digital Art Exhibition - RGB Dresses
Most Innovative Entry
Best in Show - Professional
2006
GCCIS Digital Arts Competition - Upper NY Bay: 2001
Most Innovative Entry
1st Place, 3D Installation
2005
U.S. Patent 6,897,866
"Method and apparatus for entity relationship visualization"
2002
U.S. Patent 6,466,211
"Data visualization apparatuses, computer-readable mediums, computer data signals embodied in a transmission medium, data visualization methods, and digital computer data visualization methods"