Curriculum Vitae

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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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 Healthhttps://doi.org/10.1177/20552076241302652

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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)