Resume
Vajira Nissanka
201 South 4th Street #514
San Jose, CA 95112
TTel. (408) 297-3635
E-mail: nissanka@cs.umn.edu
URL: http://www.cs.umn.edu/~nissanka/
Objective: |
Career in system research and development/human factors research |
Education: |
MMS in Human Factors/Ergonomics
(Expected: Fall 2004, San Jose State University)
MS in Computer Science
(Dec 2001, University of Minnesota)
BS in Computer Science
(June 1996, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka) |
Research Interests: |
User interfaces and usability, Human computer interaction,
Human factors, Human performance modeling and simulation, Human biases and expectations,
Artificial intelligence, Information retrieval, Network computing, Internet programming
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Computer Skills: |
Languages
C, C++, Java/JavaScript, Perl, Tcl/Tk, VB/VBScript
Modules / Technologies
MFC, Java Swing & RMI, CGI, Perl DBI, ASP, MS Access, Oracle, Informix
OS Environments
Unix/Solaris/Linux, MS Windows/NT, Apple Macintosh
Miscellaneous
SQL, HTML, DHTML, XML, IIS, SourceSafe, Centura, Pascal, Matlab
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Human Factors Skills: |
Usability evaluation and testing, Task centered UI design,
Human performance modeling and simulation, Job and workplace evaluation
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Selected Projects: |
o For the Masters project at University of Minnesota, studied web search engine usage behavior and explored three new techniques that could improve web search results without changing the users’ current behavior
o Developed parts of iRIMS Studio’s (a fully integrated records management solution) functionality and interface (see http://www.opentext.com/irims/ for product details)
- Designed and prototyped the iRIMS Web Manager, the Web version of iRIMS Studio
- Prototyped the iRIMS Electronic Records Manager to extend the functionality of iRIMS Studio to manage electronic records
o Designed and programmed part of the communication architecture between an aircraft instrumentation software tool (PCPlane) and a human performance modeling software tool (Air MIDAS) to run simulations without having to involve human pilots
o Led a group of 3 programmers to design and develop a Trilingual Election Results Display System for National Television and the National Website of Sri Lanka
o Designed and developed a single intuitive GUI application framework to convert a MAGIC extracted VLSI circuit layout into a Spice file, append and edit Spice parameters, perform the Spice simulation, and display the waves
o Prototyped a concept of an attention manager to balance information awareness of a computer user with intelligent intrusion
o Implemented collective communication operations (Reduce and All_Reduce) in MPI using MPI’s point-to-point communication operations, and developed an MPI program to perform Gaussian elimination in parallel
o Implemented a motion detection algorithm (SSD method) and carried out several experiments
o Implemented A* algorithm to find shortest driving distances in the city of Minneapolis
o Implemented parts of an operating system for a MIPS simulator
o Implemented a simple HTTP client-server model with socket programming on a Unix network
o Implemented an Expert system for a game called ‘Good Bet’
o Taking a task network model based approach, developed a human-system model that examined the risk involved when using a cell phone while driving
o Did a literature survey on problems with flight-deck automation and suggested solutions for automation with a human factors perspective
o Carried out a comprehensive usability evaluation of the movie ticket kiosks at Century Theatres using several evaluation techniques and identified more than 30 usability problems
o Developed a comprehensive test plan to user test the HeartStart Home Defibrillator product website
o Analyzed human factors and ergonomic issues of computer workstations
o Wrote a research proposal to overcome ergonomic issues of a computer keyboard
o Prototyped a laptop that attempts to overcome several ergonomics issues of a current laptop
o Carried out a job evaluation of a waitress and suggested ergonomics improvements for the job
o Carried out a job evaluation for printing and packaging, identifying several hazardous situations
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Work Experience: |
Research Assistant - (Jan 2003 - present)
Human Automation Integration Laboratory,
San Jose State University, CA
o As a programmer, involved in developing Air MIDAS, a software tool to simulate cognitive
behaviors of flight crews and air traffic controllers
o As a human factors researcher, involved in researching how human biases and expectations
affect the performance of flight crews
Teaching Assistant - (Aug 2000 - Aug 2001)
Department of Computer Science,
University of Minnesota, MN
o Teaching assistant for the joint MSSE program of the Department of Computer Science and
the Center for the Development of Technological Leadership (CDTL)
o Assisted to conduct 4 classes: User Interface Design and Evaluation, Process Improvement,
Distributed Computing, and Software Architecture
Research Assistant - (Aug 1998 - Aug 2000)
Division of Epidemiology,
University of Minnesota, MN
o Web Developer for the Division of Epidemiology - Carried out database/web interface
projects and other web development activities for the Division of Epidemiology and the Cancer Center
o Programmed primarily with Perl, VBScript, JavaScript, DHTML, HTML and SQL
Software Developer - (Aug 1997 - Aug 1998)
PSSoftware Ltd.,
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
o Designed and developed parts of iRIMS Studio functionality and interface
o Carried out black-box and white-box software testing
o Programmed primarily with Centura, Centura Web Developer, and VC++
Project Assistant - (Jul 1996 - Aug 1997)
Institute of Computer Technology,
University of Colombo, Sri Lanka
o Designed and developed software applications and websites for government institutes
o Carried out teaching assignments, arranged workshops, and provided technical assistance for projects and
courses conducted by the Institute
o Programmed primarily with C, Perl, Java, and HTML
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Relevant Courses: |
Human computer interaction, Human factors and ergonomics, Cognitive engineering in
human-machine systems, Cognitive science research and theory, UI design and evaluation,
Usability evaluation and testing, GUI toolkits, Information retrieval, Databases,
Internet programming, Operating systems, Computer networks, Parallel programming,
Artificial intelligence, Expert systems, Pattern recognition, Intelligent agents |
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