Michael Best

Michael Best

Michael Best

Executive Director, Institute for People and Technology
Professor, Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing

Michael L. Best is Executive Director of the Institute for People and Technology (IPaT) and Professor with the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs and the School of Interactive Computing at Georgia Institute of Technology where he directs the Technologies and International Development Lab. He holds a Ph.D. from MIT and has served as director of Media Lab Asia in India and head of the eDevelopment group at the MIT Media Lab.
 

Research Fields:
* Information and Communications Technologies for Development
* International Diffusion and Innovation in IT

Geographic Focuses:
* Africa (Sub-Saharan)
* Asia (East)
* Asia (South)
* Latin America and Caribbean

Issues:
* Inequality and Social Justice
* International Development
* Digital and Mixed Media
* Digital Communication
* Human/Machine Interaction
* Internet Studies

mikeb@gatech.edu

404-894-0298

Website

  • Lab
  • Ivan Allen College Faculty Profile
  • Research Focus Areas:
  • Artificial Intelligence (AI)
  • Shaping the Human-Technology Frontier
  • Smart Cities and Inclusive Innovation
  • Additional Research:

    ICTD; Computing and Society; Computing and International Affairs


    IRI Connections:

    Clint Zeagler

    Clint Zeagler

    Clint Zeagler

    Director of Strategic Partnerships (IPaT)
    Principal Research Scientist

    While teaching textiles and fashion design studio classes at Savannah College of Art & Design, Zeagler realized his true passion lies in bridging the gap between the disciplines of Wearable design and Human-Centered Computing. A diverse background in fashion, industrial design, and textiles drive his research on electronic textiles and on-body interfaces with the Contextual Computing Group of the GVU center of Georgia Tech. As a Principal Research Scientist for the Georgia Tech Interactive Media Technology Center and Instructor for the Georgia Tech School of Industrial Design he teaches courses on Wearable Product Design and an ID section of Mobile and Ubiquitous Computing (MUC).  Zeagler enjoys working with corporations such as HP/Palm and Google to bring real-world experience into the classroom. He recently acquired a NASA Georgia Space Consortium grant to fund MUC student projects on wearable computing for space—a wonderful opportunity for undergraduate students. He is also a member of the NASA Wearable Technology Cluster a group of scientists and academics working together to give advice to those in NASA working on wearable computing or electronic textile projects. A deep understanding of the garment production process fosters innovation in his research. Zeagler’s company Pecan Pie Couture hand-dyed, embroidered, and screen-printed textiles and garments. Building upon that skillset, his recent research led to the creation of the Electronic Textile Interface Swatch Book (ESwatchBook) in collaboration with Thad Starner. The ESwatchBook is designed to help facilitate discussions between the skill and craft-based design disciplines (.i.e. fashion) and more technical disciplines (.i.e. computer science). To put the ESwatchBook’s capabilities to the test, he developed a series of workshops at multiple colleges with the purpose of bringing together designers with engineers/technology specialists. The workshops were funded by a National Endowment for the Arts grant, which he co-authored. Zeagler’s most recent endeavor FIDO: Facilitating Interactions for Dogs with Occupations is an exploration into using wearable electronics to enhance interactions between service dogs and their handler/owners.

    clintzeagler@gatech.edu

    University, College, and School/Department
    Research Focus Areas:
  • Shaping the Human-Technology Frontier
  • Additional Research:
    Wearable Computing; Textile Interfaces; Animal Computer Interaction

    IRI Connections:

    Richard Starr

    Richard Starr

    Richard Starr

    Research Scientist II

    Richard Starr is a research scientist responsible for the Protected Health Data infrastructure at IPaT. He develops and manages a common infrastructure to work with healthcare data. This secure environment can be employed across campus to house research data to maintain compliance with HIPAA, IRB, and partnership agreements.

    rstarr7@gatech.edu

    Research Focus Areas:
  • Lifelong Health and Well-Being
  • Additional Research:
    Healthcare data; data science

    IRI Connections:

    Rudolph Gleason

    Rudolph Gleason

    Rudolph Gleason

    Professor, Mechanical Engineering and Biomedical Engineering
    Joint Appointment in the School of Biomedical Engineering

    Rudolph (Rudy) L. Gleason began at Tech in Fall 2005 as an assistant professor. Prior, he was a postdoctoral fellow at Texas A&M University. He is currently a professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering and the School of Biomedical Engineering in the College of Engineering. Gleason’s research program has two key and distinct research aims. The first research aim is to quantify the link between biomechanics, mechanobiology, and tissue growth and remodeling in diseases of the vasculature and other soft tissues. The second research aim is to translate engineering innovation to combat global health disparities and foster sustainable development in low-resource settings around the world. Gleason serves as a Georgia Tech Institute for People and Technology initiative lead for research activities related to global health equity and wellbeing.

    rudy.gleason@me.gatech.edu

    404-385-7218

    Office Location:
    TEP 205

  • Related Site
  • Google Scholar

    Research Focus Areas:
  • Biobased Materials
  • Molecular, Cellular and Tissue Biomechanics
  • Regenerative Medicine
  • Additional Research:
    Cardiovascular mechanics, soft tissue growth and remodeling, and tissue engineering

    IRI Connections: