Rate My Professor Michael Wybrow

Associate Professor Michael Wybrow is a prominent researcher in the Faculty of Information Technology at Monash University, where he holds a position in the Department of Human Centred Computing. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy in Computer Science from Monash University in October 2008, with a thesis titled 'Using semi-automatic layout to improve the usability of diagramming software,' which received the CORE Association’s award for the best Australasian Computer Science thesis of 2008 and the Monash Vice-Chancellor’s commendation for doctoral thesis excellence in 2009. He also holds a Bachelor of Computer Science (Honours) from the University of Melbourne, awarded in 2003. Following his PhD, Wybrow served as a Research Fellow at Monash University from 2009 to 2010 and as an Australian Postdoctoral Fellow under an ARC Discovery Project from 2011 to mid-2014, focusing on flexible user-guided network layout for biomedical applications. In 2013, he was awarded the Faculty of IT Dean’s Award for Excellence in Research by Early Career Researchers. His early software contributions, including the libavoid connector routing library, attracted industry interest and collaborations exceeding $100,000.

Since mid-2014, Wybrow has been a Lecturer (teaching and research) in the Faculty of Information Technology, designing and leading the first-year course ENG1003 on IT literacy, app programming, and software engineering, delivered to over 1,300 students annually across campuses. From 2019 to 2024, he directed Work Integrated Learning, expanding industry placements, capstone projects, and student teams. Appointed Associate Dean (Engagement and Impact) in mid-2025, he oversees research and education initiatives. Wybrow’s research centers on interactive visualisation for complex data and user-guided AI systems, including constraint-based diagram layout, connector routing, and applications in biological networks, energy sector optimisation, and healthcare monitoring. Key publications include 'Hola: Human-like orthogonal network layout' (IEEE TVCG, 2015; InfoVis best paper award), 'Euler diagrams drawn with ellipses area-proportionally (Edeap)' (BMC Bioinformatics, 2021), and 'Scalability of Network Visualisation from a Cognitive Load Perspective' (IEEE TVCG, 2021). His software, such as Adaptagrams and Dunnart, is widely adopted in academia and industry. He has secured over $10 million in grants and funding, served on the IEEE VIS program committee, hosted the conference in Melbourne in 2023, and attended seven Schloss Dagstuhl workshops. Wybrow actively supervises PhD students and reviews for top journals and conferences.