Brian Fisher

About

I am a Full Professor of Interactive Arts and Technology at Simon Fraser University where I teach technology design, cognitive psychology, and data analysis. My research approach focuses on how we might better coordinate discovery, invention, and innovation, developing information systems for the benefit of society.  To do this we build upon cognitive science theory and method to guide the development of advanced visual information systems and to inspire directed basic research in cognitive science. Our collaborative design approach relies  upon our close partnership with companies, not-for-profits, and government agencies as well as the interdisciplinary collaboration of faculty members from diverse disciplines and fields. Applications are in information systems for personalized health, aircraft safety, command, control, & interoperability, cybersecurity, and business analytics. Partners include Appnovation, Boeing, Cubismi, GM, HRL, MDA, Microbiome Insights, Molecular You Inc., Richmond EOC, and the World Bank. Papers are in cognitive science, cognitive engineering, and visual analytics as well as application areas. Prior to SFU I taught entrepreneurship and e-commerce for the MBA and HCI for Computer Science at UBC. I was Associate Director of UBC Media And Graphics Interdisciplinary Centre for multidisciplinary technology design and adjunct professor in 3 faculties: Social Sciences (Psychology), Commerce (MBA entrepreneurship & MIS), and Science (Computer Science).  I was a co-founder of Thoughtshare Communications Inc., and the New Ventures BC Association. I have held an Order in Council appointment to NSERC Council, and have been a member of DRDC  Institute for Research in Defence and Security Centre of Expertise on Human System Performance, and the EUREKA / European Commission Eurostars Independent Expert Panel member (through nomination by NRC).
 I served on the Executive Committee of VIS & Steering Committee for VAST, the Leadership Board of VACCINE DHS Center of Excellence in Command, Control and Interoperability and the Steering Committee of the International Centre for Cybercrime Research. I was General Chair for Information Systems for Crisis Relief And Management (ISCRAM) 2012, Papers Chair for IEEE VAST 2017 and 2020 and General Chair for VIS 2019. I was Keynote speaker for 2011 EuroVAST, 2011 NATO Visualisation Network-of-Experts, and the 2011 Scalable VA DFG Priority Program meeting. 
 My Erdos number is 2, which is pretty good for a psychologist.

Education