Education
2021
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
Advisors: Dr. Jakob E. Bardram & Dr. Per Bækgaard
Dissertation Title: Speech-Enabled Conversational Agents to Support the Self-Report of Mental Health and Wellbeing
Department of Health Technology, Technical University of Denmark
2017
Master of Arts (MA)
Major: Web and Multimedia Design,
Touro Graduate School of Technology
2013
Bachelors of Science (BS)
Major: Dynamic Web Design
Graduate Center, City University of New York
2009
Associate of Applied Science (AAS)
Major: New Media Technology
LaGuardia Community College, City University of New York
Appointments
2023–Current
Assistant Professor
University of Oklahoma (OU), Norman, OK
2022–2023
President’s Postdoctoral Fellow
Advisors: Dr. Saeed Abdullah & Dr. S. Shyam Sundar
College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University, State College, PA
2021–2022
Postdoctoral Researcher
Advisor: Dr. John Paulin Hansen
Department of Technology, Management and Economics, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
Grants & Awards
2024-2025
Leveraging Large Language Models to Enhance Art Education
Principle Investigator
Institute for Community and Society Transformation (ICAST) Seed Grant, University of Oklahoma. $19,500
2024–2025
Explainable AI Tutoring System for Visual-Spatial and Logical-Mathematical Skill Development
Co-Investigator
Data Institute for Societal Challenges (DISC) Seed Grant. University of Oklahoma. $7,500
2024
OU Open Access Research Publication Fund
OU Libraries. University of Oklahoma. $2,000
2024
Faculty Travel Assistance Program (FTAP) Funds
OU Office of the Vice President for Research and Partnerships (OVPRP), University of Oklahoma. $1,500
2023-2025
Developing a Generative AI Pedagogical Framework for Visual Communication Design Education
Principle Investigator
Initiative for the Humanities and Arts in Society (IHAS) Seed Grant, University of Oklahoma. $49,962
2012-2013
Thomas W. Smith Fellowship,
City University of New York
2013
Promise Prize, Code for Change,
New York University, $500
Publications
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Raju Maharjan and Sang Ryu. 2026. How Novice Designers Use, Embed, and Make Sense of AI: Implications for AI-Integrated Design Education. In EduCHI 2026: 8th Annual Symposium on HCI Education (EduCHI ’26), May 20–22, 2026, Toronto, ON, Canada. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 12 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3803869.3803871
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Raju Maharjan, Ainsley J. Overheul, Wonga Nogwanya, and Gino Ndiko. 2025. Artists’ Perspectives on an AI-Powered System for Enhancing Art Exhibitions. In Companion of the 2025 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing (UbiComp Companion ’25), October 12–16, 2025, Espoo, Finland. ACM, New York, NY, USA, 5 pages. https://doi.org/10.1145/3714394.3756259
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Raju Maharjan, Sanjana Mendu, Milton Mariani, Saeed Abdullah, and John Paulin Hansen. 2024. Exploring the Impact of Real-Time Verbal Feedback from a Exoskeleton-Based Virtual Exercise Coach on User Engagement During Physical Exercise Performance. Digital Health. https://doi.org/10.1177/20552076241302652
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Raju Maharjan, Kevin Doherty, Darius Adam Rohani, Per Bækgaard, and Jakob E. Bardram. 2022. Experiences of a Speech-Enabled Conversational Agent for the Self-Report of Wellbeing Among People Living with Affective Disorders: An In-The-Wild Study. ACM Trans. Interact. Intell. Syst. https://doi.org/10.1145/3484508
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Raju Maharjan, Kevin Doherty, Darius Adam Rohani, Per Bækgaard, and Jakob E. Bardram. 2022. What is the Difference? Investigating the Self-Report of Wellbeing via Conversational Agent and Web App. IEEE Pervasive Computing, Special Issue on Mental Health, Mood, and Emotion. https://doi.org/ 10.1109/MPRV.2022.3147374
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Devender Kumar, Raju Maharjan, Alban Maxhuni, Helena Dominguez, Anne Frølich, and Jakob E. Bardram. 2022. mCardia: A Context-Aware ECG Collection System for Ambulatory Arrhythmia Screening. ACM Health. https://doi.org/10.1145/3494581.
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Raju Maharjan, Kevin Doherty, Darius Adam Rohani, Per Bækgaard, and Jakob E. Bardram. 2022. What’s Up with these Conversational Health Agents? From Users’ Critiques to Implications for Design. Frontiers in Digital Health. https://doi.org/10.3389/fdgth.2022.840232
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Raju Maharjan, Darius Adam Rohani, Per Bækgaard, Jakob Bardram, and Kevin Doherty. 2021. Can we talk? Design Implications for the Questionnaire-Driven Self-Report of Health and Wellbeing via Conversational Agent. In CUI 2021 – 3rd Conference on Conversational User Interfaces (CUI ’21). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 5, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1145/3469595.3469600
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Giovanna Nunes Vilaza, Raju Maharjan, David Coyle, and Jakob Bardram. 2020. Futures for Health Research Data Platforms From the Participants’ Perspectives. In Proceedings of the 11th Nordic Conference on Human-Computer Interaction: Shaping Experiences, Shaping Society (NordiCHI ’20). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 39, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1145/3419249.3420110
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Raju Maharjan, Per Bækgaard, and Jakob E. Bardram. 2019.
'Hear me out’: smart speaker based conversational agent to monitor symptoms in mental health. In Adjunct Proceedings of the 2019 ACM International Joint Conference on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Proceedings of the 2019 ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (UbiComp/ISWC ’19 Adjunct). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 929–933. https://doi.org/10.1145/3341162.3346270 -
Raju Maharjan, Per Bækgaard, and Jakob E. Bardram. 2018. Leveraging Multi-modal User-labeled Data for Improved Accuracy in Interpretation of ECG Recordings. In Proceedings of the 2018 ACM International Joint Conference and 2018 International Symposium on Pervasive and Ubiquitous Computing and Wearable Computers (UbiComp ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 636–641. https://doi.org/10.1145/3267305.3267548
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Pegah Hafiz, Raju Maharjan, and Devender Kumar. 2018. Usability of a mood assessment smartphone prototype based on humor appreciation. In Proceedings of the 20th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services Adjunct(MobileHCI ’18). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 151–157. https://doi.org/10.1145/3236112.3236134
Invited Talks & Presentations
2026
Conversational AI to Support Mental Health & Wellbeing
Medical Humanities Colloquium, University of Oklahoma.
2025
Leveraging Large Language Models to Enhance Art Education
Institute for Community and Society Transformation (ICAST), University of Oklahoma
2025
Leveraging AI in Art and Design Education
The OU AI Working Group on Research & Interdisciplinary Collaboration, University of Oklahoma
2022
Research at the Intersection of Design, Technology and Mental Health and Best Wellness Apps to Reduce Stress
15th Annual Postdoctoral Research Symposium, Pennsylvania State University
2022
Leveraging Voice Interfaces to Support Health and Wellbeing
Design Talks, University of Technology Sydney, Australia
2022
Voice Interface to Support Mental Health and Wellbeing
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Teaching
Fall 2026
Personal Health Informatics: DES 4633
University of Oklahoma
Spring 2025-Current
AI Experience (AIX) Design: DES 3643
University of Oklahoma
Fall 2023-Current
User Experience (UX) Design & Prototyping: DES 3633
University of Oklahoma
Fall 2024
Fine Arts Perspectives: FA 1523
University of Oklahoma
Guest Lecturer: Generative AI in Art: Opportunities and Challenges
Spring 2024
Ubiquitous System Design: DES 3643
University of Oklahoma
Fall 2022
Human-Centered Design for Mobile Computing: HCDD 340
College of Information Sciences and Technology, Pennsylvania State University
Guest Lecturer: Voice User Interface Design.
Summer 2019
UX Engineering: 02266
DTU Compute, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science
Teaching Assistant
Spring 2019
Personal Data Interaction for Mobile and Wearables: 02808
DTU Compute, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science
Teaching Assistant
Guest Lecturer: Personal Health Data Visualization module.
Fall 2018
UX Design and Prototyping: 02810
DTU Compute, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science
Teaching Assistant
Supervision
2026
MSc Thesis
OU, Computer Science
How viewers from diverse backgrounds make sense of graphs by proposing a high-level visualization comprehension framework
2019
MSc Capstone
DTU Compute, Department of Applied Mathematics and Computer Science
Smartmed: A micro:bit-based medicine container to track medication intake and adherence
Service
2025-Current
Committee Chair
Technology Committee, School of Visual Arts, University of Oklahoma
2023–Current
Faculty Advisor
OU UI/UX Club, College of Engineering, University of Oklahoma
2025-2026
Committee Member
OU SoVA Director Search Committee, College of Fine Arts, University of Oklahoma
2024-2026
Committee Member
Dean’s Advisory Committee, School of Visual Arts, University of Oklahoma
2024
Committee Member
Faculty Search Committee, School of Visual Arts, University of Oklahoma
2022
Voice Interface to Support Mental Health and Wellbeing
University of Copenhagen, Denmark
Research Paper Review
2019-Current
ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI)
2023-Current
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies (UBICOMP/IMWUT)
2023-Current
Journal of Medical Internet Research (JMIR)
2024–Current
ACM Transactions on Computing for Healthcare
2025-Current
ACM Annual Symposium on HCI Education (EduCHI)
2023
ACM Conference on Computer-Supported Cooperative Work \& Social Computing (CSCW)
2024
ACM Conference on Intelligent User Interfaces (IUI)
2021
ACM International Symposium on Wearable Computers (ISWC)
2020
EAI International Conference on Pervasive Computing Technologies for Healthcare (Pervasive Health)