Bradley Rey

Bradley Rey

Assistant Professor - University of Winnipeg

Prospective Students

Thanks for your interest in working with me! Reading the information on this page, and potentially reaching out, could be the start of an amazing journey for the both of us! There are a few things that I ask you to first consider/note:

If you are interested in working with me, please read all the information below prior to contacting me via email.

What is Human Computer Interaction?

Please ask yourself, do you know what the field of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is?

If you are currently working in a Computer Science domain, I will usually look to see whether you have taken an introductory HCI course (e.g., ACS-3916 at the University of Winnipeg or equivalent at your university). While this is not a strict prerequisite, it is one of the easiest ways to ensure that you have some foundational knowledge of the field in which I do research.

If you are working in a domain outside of Computer Science (e.g., nursing, kinesiology, engineering, design, business, education, etc.) and want to leverage technology for whatever research problem that you are looking to address, it is okay not to have taken an HCI course. After all, HCI is a highly interdisciplinary field, and I truly enjoy working with students and colleagues from diverse backgrounds.

Either way, I encourage you to learn what the field of HCI is all about prior to contacting me. There are many online classes which help to showcase the field of HCI. For example, The University of San Diego California offers a free Coursera course on Interaction Design. There are also books, such as Don Norman’s Design of Everyday Things and many others, that you can explore.

My Research

After understanding what HCI is about, you should then familiarize yourself with my specific areas of research before reaching out (HCI is a very large field in itself, of which I do not study all aspects). Most of my work deals with personal health informatics, personal data visualization and interaction, self tracking, health behavior change, and on-the-go/wearable technologies. You can read about each of my projects and published papers here on my website. I highly recommend that you read some of the papers that you consider interesting. Doing so should give you a sense of the types of projects and research approaches that I am involved with. While not strictly the case, working with me means you will likely be a part of producing similar work in terms of project areas and approaches.

Prospective Students

Now, if you do decide that HCI is the field for you and that my research aligns with your interests in some way, please prepare to reach out. However, first, you need to think about what you want to get from reaching out and potentially meeting. Are you looking for/to:

  • An advisor as a graduate student? (see Prospective Graduate Students below)
  • Gain research experience as an undergradute student? (see Prospective Undergraduate Students below)
  • A Research Assistantship? (see Prospective Research Assistantship below)
  • A committee member? (see Committee Membership below).

Prospective Graduate Students

This usually applies to M.Sc. and Ph.D. students. If you are looking for an advisor and think that I would be a good fit, it is recommended to mention this up front when you contact me. Upon reaching out, we will schedule a time to meet to introduce ourselves and discuss the possibility of graduate studies further.

Please note, the University of Winnipeg does not currently have a Ph.D. program in Computer Science. If you are a potential Ph.D. student, I could likely recommend you to a different advisor at another university. If this is the case, there is the potential that I could remain on as an internal committee member/advisor to your work. Please still reach out, and we can further discuss.

Prospective Undergraduate Students

If you are an undergraduate student in Applied Computer Science at the University of Winnipeg, please first take ACS-3916, Introduction to HCI. This course will give you a good overview of the field in which I do research and foundational knowledge that will be important to have. While this course is not a strict prerequisite, it is often the case that I recruit students who have taken the course. While taking the course, or shortly after, please reach out via email and/or in person during office hours to further discuss.

If, as a student at the University of Winnipeg, you are looking for research experience, I will often have you register for our 3-credit hour independent study/course (ACS-4931) under my supervision. This usually amounts to ~10 hours per week of work. If things go well, we will come away with concrete outcomes (e.g., study design, design artifacts, data, written report, etc.) by the end of the semester. This can also lead to applying for undergraduate student research awards which would allow for a paid internship within my research lab, typically taking place over the summer months.

Prospective Research Assistantship

Typically, a Research Assistantship (RAship) takes place over the summer months, although not always, as a full-time and fully-funded work position (i.e., it can be thought of as an internship or job). If you are looking for a funded RAship, it is recommended to mention this up front when you contact me. I may be able to provide an RAship depending on your past research experience and my current funding available. Please note, RAships are typically tied closely to a particular grant or a project, so you would likely have to work on that very particular, predefined project.

A highly recommended approach to securing an RAship is to first do a small project with me (e.g., through ACS-4931 mentioned above) and demonstrate that you can do good work. Additionally, I may have an open call for Research Assistants, in which case you should apply as per the instructions associated with the call.

Committee Membership

Please note, I currently hold the rank of Assistant Professor in North America. This is often one tier lower than is required for committee membership. Please look carefully through your own university’s guidelines prior to reaching out.

If you are looking for a committee member, and the above is not an issue, I encourage you to have your current advisor contact me directly. Depending where you are at, the first step may simply be meeting with you advisor one-on-one, meeting with you and your advisor together, or simply conversing via email. When discussing, I may ask you to consider things such as why you think I might be a good fit given your research topic, what expertise do I bring that others do not, what you may need or are hoping to get from me, and what your timeline currently is.

If you have reached this part of the page and think that it is a good idea to contact me, please send me an email to ask for a meeting. Use the following subject line “Prospective [Insert Position]: [Insert Your Name]” and attach your CV or Resume, if any. For example, if I was reaching out as a potential graduate student I would use “Prospective Graduate Student: Bradley Rey”. Using the above subject line structure will let me know that you have read through this page and are serious about potentially working together.

I have put together a blog post, Applying for Graudate Studies at the University of Winnipeg, which highlights further details about the application process at the University of Winnipeg and contains tips for reaching out/applying. For further details on how I generally manage my research lab as well as work expectations and responsibilities of both you and I, please see my blog post, Lab Policies and Work Practices. Finally, you can explore all the great things that Winnipeg has to offer in my blog post, A Graduate Student’s Guide to Winnipeg.