Serious Games Research Group

People

Principal Investigator

Richard Zhao, Ph.D.

Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science.

Current Graduate Students

Matthew McConnell

Ph.D. student in Computer Science. 2025-present. Thesis-based M.Sc. student in Computer Science. 2024-2025.

Mahdi Farrokhimaleki

Thesis-based M.Sc. student in Computer Science. 2023-present.

Parsa Rahmati

Thesis-based M.Sc. student in Computational Media Design. Co-supervised by Bruce Barton. 2024-present.

Tarif Ashraf

Thesis-based M.Sc. student in Computer Science. 2024-present.

Setareh Abhari

Thesis-based M.Sc. student in Computer Science. 2025-present.

Olga Koldachenko

Thesis-based M.Sc. student in Computer Science. 2025-present.

Current Undergraduate Research Assistants

Amy Wiebe (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2025.

Joseph Tandyo (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2024-2025. Alberta Innovates scholarship. 2024.

Talaal Irtija (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2023-2025. Alberta Innovates scholarship, 2023.

Avery Keuben (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2023-2025.

Honours Students

Sam Gaudet (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2025. CPSC 502. 2025-2026.

Rishabh Agarwal. (B.Sc. student. Computer Science) CPSC 502. 2025-2026.

Arian Safari. (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). CPSC 502. 2025-2026.


Past Graduate Students

Mohamad Elzohbi

Ph.D. in Computer Science. 2020-2025.

Farhan Aslam

Thesis-based M.Sc. in Computer Science. 2021-2025.

Naznin Shishir

Thesis-based M.Sc. in Computer Science. 2022-2024.

Kimiya Saadat

Thesis-based M.Sc. in Computer Science. 2021-2024.

Michael Shomoye

Thesis-based M.Sc. in Computer Science. 2021-2023.

Past Undergraduate Research Assistants

Rebekah Leslie (B.Sc. exchange student. Computer Science, University of Aberdeen). 2025. Mitacs Globalink award. 2025.

Ryan Nguyen (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2025. PURE award, 2025.

Nour Ben Sghaier (B.Sc. exchange student. Computer Science, ENSTAB). 2024. Mitacs Globalink award. 2024.

Ammar Zaghloul (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2024. NSERC USRA. 2024.

Rishabh Agarwal (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2024.

Shanza Raza (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2023.

David Garcia (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). PURE award, 2022.

Jason Cabueños (B.F.A. student. Drama). Alberta Innovates scholarship, 2022.

Hannah Ava Sloan (B.Sc. student. Computer Science). 2021.

Past Honours Students

Alan Alcocer-Iturriza. B.Sc. student. Computer Science. CPSC 502. 2024-2025.

Chirag Asrani. B.Sc. student. Computer Science. CPSC 502. 2024-2025.

Jon Choi. B.Sc. student. Computer Science. CPSC 502. 2024-2025.

Iftekhar Mahbub Prutik. B.Sc. student. Computer Science. CPSC 502. 2023-2024.

Tyler Hartleb. B.Sc. student. Computer Science. CPSC 502. 2022-2023.

Kaynen Mitchell. B.Sc. student. Computer Science. CPSC 502. 2022-2023.

Past Capstone Project Students

Joey Van Lierop. B.Sc. student. Computer Science. CPSC 503. Fall 2024.

Michaela Reyes. Master of Data Science and Analytics student. Summer 2024.

Karunakar Cherukupally. Master of Data Science and Analytics student. Summer 2024.

Jason Nguyen. B.Sc. student. Computer Science. CPSC 503. 2024.

Past Visitor

Yiwei Zhang. B.Sc. student. Beijing Normal University. 2023.

Prospective Students

See http://richardzhao.com for admission requirements.