January 28, 2025
Maria Harrington (SCI '08), PhD, and associate professor of Digital Media at the University of Central Florida, was recently awarded the Research Incentive Award (RIA) by the UCF In-Unit Research Incentive Award Program, which recognizes outstanding research and scholarly or creative activity that advances the body of knowledge in a particular field, including interdisciplinary research and collaborations.
The Teaching Incentive Program (TIP) also awarded Harrington with The Research Incentive Award, which rewards teaching excellence and productivity. TIP also recognizes in-unit employee contributions to UCF’s key goal of achieving international prominence in research and creative activities.
“Both are highly competitive and are unique in that the faculty vote on the quality of research and teaching, so my peers evaluated my work, ” stated Harrington.
Harrington, using augmented and virtual reality, pioneered data visualization methods of natural habitats by combining botanical and ecological datasets from geographical information systems. Additionally, her research centers around the design of human-centered computing applications, and in the creation of applications for both art and science. Through her work, Harrington’s interdisciplinary projects have left an impact upon academia for students, programs, and cultural institutions.
Please join us in congratulating Harrington on this achievement!
Dr. Maria C. R. Harrington is an American information scientist and artist. She is an associate professor of Digital Media at the University of Central Florida. With an undergraduate degree from Carnegie Mellon University in Economics and Art and a Ph.D. in Information Sciences from the University of Pittsburgh, her research focus is on the design of human-centered computing applications, and in the creation of applications for both art and science. Using augmented and virtual reality, she investigates the design, development, and evaluation of immersive learning environments.