Rate My Professor Yusuf Pisan

Yusuf Pisan is a Teaching Professor in Computer Science within the Computing & Software Systems Division, School of Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics at the University of Washington Bothell. He holds a BS in Computer Science from Northwestern University in 1992, a PhD in Computer Science from the same institution in 1998 with a dissertation titled 'An integrated architecture for engineering problem solving,' and a Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (Higher Education) from Macquarie University in 2001. Pisan joined the University of Washington Bothell in September 2017 as Senior Lecturer, advancing to his current role. Previously, he served as Associate Professor and Director of the Games Studio in the School of Software at the University of Technology Sydney from 2008 to 2017, where he formed and led the studio and founded the Australasian Conference on Interactive Entertainment series in 2004, chairing it multiple times and fostering the Australian games community. Earlier appointments include Senior Lecturer and Co-director of Creativity & Cognition Studios at UTS, Senior Lecturer and Lecturer at Macquarie University, ARC Research Fellow at the University of New South Wales, and Research Assistant at Northwestern University's Institute for the Learning Sciences. He has held visiting professorships at Harvey Mudd College, University of Southern California, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, and IT University of Copenhagen.

Pisan's academic interests encompass entertainment computing, interactive entertainment, game design and development, artificial intelligence in games, virtual worlds, digital media technologies, exergames, health applications, player experience analysis, and computer science education. His key publications include editorship of 'Entertainment Computing - ICEC 2014: 13th International Conference' (2014), 'Exergames for the elderly: Towards an embedded Kinect-based clinical test of falls risk' (2012, with J.A. Garcia et al.), 'Improving lives: using Microsoft Kinect to predict the loss of balance for elderly users under cognitive load' (2012), 'Personalised Gaming' (2012, Journal of Creative Technologies), and 'Evolution of the Software Toolchain for Computer Science Students' (2024). Pisan has earned the UTS Teaching Award in 2006 and the University of Washington Bothell Distinguished Teaching Award in 2023, recognizing his student-centered approach fostering growth mindsets and inclusive learning communities. He contributes through Tech for Good research group mentoring undergraduates, extensive service on academic boards, search committees, and program committees for conferences such as ICEC (Conference Chair 2014), Foundations of Digital Games, and CHIPlay, and hosting international visitors.