I am an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Science at the University of Birmingham. I am interested in providing tools for everyone to fabricate interactive objects for their unique problems. My research method encompasses developing fabrication tools, proposing novel applications such as shape-changing interfaces using the tools and conducting user studies to identify usability problems of the tools. I have experience both in academia and industry, focusing on HCI and UX design. I have a strong academic record since my PhD. I published full papers at CHI1 and UIST. I also supervise three PhD students and am actively involved in academic communities. I have been working in five different countries (UK, Denmark, France, Germany, and South Korea), broadening my research skills and network.
I am continuously looking for motivated PhD students and postdoctoral researchers. I welcome candidates from all backgrounds, and people with hands-on skills such as (but not limited to) programming, fabrication, and user study would be preferred. If you want to discuss the positions and funding opportunities, please reach me at h.kim.4 [at] bham.ac.uk.
September 2024
I got the Royal Society Research Grant. I will use it to investigate biodegradable interactive devices.
June 2024
I got the Royal Society International Exchange Grant. I will use it to collaborate with Dr Melina Skouras.
November 7, 2022
Andrew Fentem joined my research team as a PhD student. He will work on magnetically powered interactive devices.
October 2022
AirLogic is published at UIST'22! Big applause to my collaborators, Valkyrie Savage, Carlos E. Tejada, Mengyu Zhong, Raf Ramakers, and Daniel Ashbrook! Especially to Valkyrie and Carlos, who have made (I believe) an amazing talk!
September 20, 2022
Nicholas Bentley joined my research team as a PhD student. He will work on multi-material fabrication.
August 2022
Finished supervising 5 HCI MSc final projects.
May 2022
Successfully (?) finished teaching Mobile & Ubiquitous Computing. Many thanks to Prof. Chris Baber for leading the module and helping me.
February 2022
I received Paul and Yuanbi Ramsay Research Fund from the School of Computer Science, University of Birmingham (~3,100GBP). I appreciate the generous donation from our alumni. I will purchase lab equipment with it!
December 1, 2021
I joined the University of Birmingham as a Lecturer. New adventures ahead!
September 30, 2021
I finished my work at the University of Copenhagen. It was a great pleasure to know all colleagues at the HCC section.
May 13, 2021
I will present my MorpheesPlug at CHI 2021 with Aluna Everitt.
May 5, 2021
I will give a talk at a weekly seminar at Cardiff University, organized by Dr Parisa Eslambolchilar.
April 19, 2021
I presented my work at HCC section at Cardiff University. Thank you Dr Parisa Eslambolchilar for inviting me!
January 20, 2021
My paper MorpheesPlug is officially accepted to CHI 2021. Thanks a million to my collaborators, Aluna Everitt, Carlos E. Tejada, Mengyu Zhong, and Daniel Ashbrook.
January 28, 2020
I've successfully defended my PhD thesis. I deeply appreciate my jury, Sriram Subramanian, Miguel Bruns, Daniel Ashbrook, and Laurence Nigay, for their invaluable time and feedback. I also thank my awesome supervisors, Céline and Anne, for being there and teaching me a lot during the four-year journey.
January 6, 2020
I've joined HCC Section at the University of Copenhagen as a Postdoctoral Researcher. I'll closely work with Daniel Ashbrook for fabrication of interactive objects. A new journey is ahead!
November 14, 2019
I submitted my thesis! Feeling relieved.
September 4-6, 2019
I will be at INTERACT '19, Cyprus to give a talk about our SplitSlider paper.
August 15-21, 2019
I will visit the University of Copenhagen to work with Prof. Daniel Ashbrook.
August 2019
A journal article is accepted to Frontiers special topic on Shape Changing Robotic Structures and Interfaces. Me, Anne, and Céline extended our KnobSlider paper focusing on the design process of the device and the users' perception of shape-change speed properties.
July 1-2, 2019
I will visit Morphing Matter Lab to give a talk and be around in Pittsburgh.
June 26-28, 2019
I will be at DIS '19, San Diego to give a talk about ExpanDial. The paper is about designing a width- and height-changing dial based on a grasp study. The full paper is available here.
May 2-3, 2019
I am invited to visit Human-Centered Ubiquitous Media Lab at LMU Munich and give a talk. It will be good to see old faces!
April 2019
My paper with Miriam Greis, Andreas Korge, Albrecht Schmidt, and Céline Coutrix is accepted to INTERACT 2019. This paper has many meanings to me: the work is with a Bachelor student I supervised for the first time, and it is my first PhD paper I collaborated with people other than my supervisors. I'm proud of Andreas and the paper. The paper will appear around August.
March 25, 2019
I will give talks at HCI Engineering Group and Tangible Media Group at MIT. Let's grab a coffee if you are in Boston around then :)
March 21, 2019
My paper "ExpanDial: Designing a Shape-Changing Dial" is accepted to ACM DIS '19! The paper will appear soon.
March 17-20, 2019
I will demonstrate five tangible devices that can have value and uncertainty as input, at TEI '19. Swing by the demonstration!
December 19, 2018
I gave a talk about my PhD work at mi-lab, Austria. I appreciated the warm welcome from the team and enjoyed the discussions.
October 14-17, 2018
I will present at UIST'18 Doctoral Symposium. For who cannot attend the Doctoral Symposium, I will also present my dissertation at the public poster session.
October 1-5, 2018
I will attend IROS 2018 for the Workshop on Shape Changing Robotic Structures and Interfaces. I will give a short talk about the KnobSlider and demonstrate it.
July 2018
I changed my website address from hyunyoungkim.com to hyunyoung.kim for the sake of simplicity.
April 2018
I will present two papers at CHI '18. Swing by the talks. I will be happy to discuss research ideas.
April 2018
I am back to Grenoble to finish my dissertation. I plan to finish it around October 2019.
February 2018
A full instruction to make the KnobSlider is on Instructables. Make your own KnobSlider, improve it, and share it.
February 2018
My Morphees+ paper received CHI '18 Honourable Mention Award!
January 2018
Collection of everyday reconfigurable objects is now online! Help us grow the collection and contribute to shape-changing interface community.
January 2018
Knobslider and Morphees+ are accepted to CHI '18!
November 2017 - April 2018
I am visiting the University of Bristol to develop a physical design tool for shape-changing interfaces.
April 2016 - September 2017
I am visiting the University of Stuttgart with my supervisor Céline Coutrix.