Senuri Wijenayake

Senuri Wijenayake is a Lecturer and Researcher in Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Social Computing at RMIT University's School of Computing Technologies, Australia. She holds a PhD from the University of Melbourne and a BSc (Hons) from the University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka. Her research focuses on online social conformity, user behaviors in social platforms, and designing interfaces for ethical interactions. She has supervised PhD and postgraduate students, taught courses like Design Programming and Interaction Design, and led projects on autonomous vehicle-pedestrian interaction and online safety mechanisms. Awards include the Best Paper Award at INTERACT'21 and the 2021 Graduate Research Student of the Year.

Education:

• PhD in Human-Computer Interaction, University of Melbourne (2018–2021)
• BSc (Hons) in Information Technology, University of Moratuwa (2013–2017)
• Secondary Education: GCE Advanced/Ordinary Levels, Sri Lanka

Research Interests: Social Computing, Online Conformity, HCI, Autonomous Systems, Crowdsourcing, and Ethical AI. Current projects explore technology-facilitated abuse prevention and mitigating cyberbullying on social media platforms.

Grants & Awards:

• Australian Communications Consumer Action Network Grant (AUD 78,045) for online safety strategies
• Instagram Research Awards Grant (AUD 75,000) for cyberbullying studies
• Recipient of multiple best paper awards and academic scholarships

Teaching & Mentoring: Unit coordinator for over 450 students in Design Programming and Interaction Design, academic mentor for PhD/Masters researchers, and motivational speaker in Sri Lanka. Certifications include Melbourne Teaching Certificate and Modular Professional Learning Framework.

Professional Activities: Organizing committee member for ACM UbiComp 2024, conference reviewer for CHI, CSCW, and WWW, and volunteer with Sri Lankan graduate societies.