I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida and direct the Ruiz Human-Computer Interaction Lab. I was previously an Assistant Professor at Colorado State University. I received my doctorate degree in Computer Science from the University of Waterloo in 2012 where I worked under the supervision of Dr. Edward Lank. I also hold a MS in Computer Science from San Francisco State University and a BS in Psychology from UC Davis.

The main goal of my research in human-computer interaction is to develop an understanding of users and technology to support user interaction. For more information about some of my research projects visit my Projects section or the Ruiz HCI Lab website.

Recent Highlights

08-2020 - Promoted to Associate Professor with Tenure!

Current Funding

Communication through Gestures, Expression and Shared Perception. Role: Co-PI. Agency: DARPA. 2015-2020. $2,133,844

CAREER: Next Generation Multimodal Interfaces. Role: PI. Agency: NSF. 2018-2023. $504,104