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Tomi Heimonen

BIO

Dr. Tomi Heimonen is an Associate Professor of Computing and New Media Technologies at UW-Stevens Point. He earned his Ph.D. in Interactive Technology from the University of Tampere in 2012 and an M.S. in Computer Science at the same institution. Dr. Heimonen has been with UWSP since 2015. At UWSP, he has developed and taught a variety of undergraduate courses in Computer Information Systems, Web Development, and Human-Technology Interaction. His courses cover topics such as interactive web programming, user research methods, user interface design, and innovation for people and computers. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Dr. Heimonen has held administrative roles including academic director for the Collaborative M.S. programs in Cybersecurity and IT Management, and currently serves as the department chair for CNMT.

Heimonen’s research is focused on human-centered design, user experience, and multimodal interaction. His published work has received recognition through best paper awards and multiple nominations. Before his tenure at UW-Stevens Point, Dr. Heimonen gained experience as a user experience researcher intern at Google and as a usability specialist at the University of Tampere’s Usability Laboratory.

PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS

  • Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) 
  • ACM Special Interest Group on Computer Human-Interaction 

PUBLICATIONS

Mäkelä, V., Heimonen, T., & Turunen, M. (2018). Semi-automated, large-scale evaluation of public displays. International Journal of Human–Computer Interaction, 34(6), 491-505. https://doi.org/10.1080/10447318.2017.1367905

Mäkelä, V., Sharma, S., Hakulinen, J., Heimonen, T., & Turunen, M. (2017). Challenges in public display deployments: A taxonomy of external factors. Proceedings of the 2017 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 3426-3475). https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3025453.3025798

Kaasinen, E., Roto, V., Hakulinen, J., Heimonen, T., … & Turunen, M. (2015). Defining user experience goals to guide the design of industrial systems. Behaviour & Information Technology, 34(10), 976-991. https://doi.org/10.1080/0144929X.2015.1035335

Heimonen, T. (2009). Information needs and practices of active mobile internet users. Proceedings of the 6th International Conference on Mobile Technology, Application & Systems (Article 50). https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/1710035.1710085

LAST BOOK READ

“Human-Centered AI” by Ben Shneiderman

BEST ADVICE

“I think everybody in this country should learn how to program a computer, should learn a computer language, because it teaches you how to think. I view computer science as a liberal art. It should be something that everyone takes.”  – Steve Jobs

Associate Professor
Chair, Department of Computing and New Media Technologies
Academic Director, M.S. Cybersecurity online degree program

Office:
SCI B235B
Phone:
715-346-4145

Education

Ph.D. - Interactive Technology
University of Tampere, Finland

M.S. - Computer Science
University of Tampere, Finland

Courses

Applied Development Project Preparation
Innovation for People and Computers
Interactive Web Programming