Christian López Bencosme is an Assistant Professor of Computer Science with an affiliation in Mechanical Engineering at Lafayette College. He holds a Ph.D. from the Harold and Inge Marcus Department of Industrial and Manufacturing Engineering at the Pennsylvania State University and a Master of Science in Industrial and Systems Engineering from the Rochester Institute of Technology, NY. Prior to his academic career, he worked in both the Service and Manufacturing sectors. Dr. López's research focuses on the design and optimization of intelligent decision support systems and persuasive technologies to augment human proficiencies. His work integrates technologies and methods from science and engineering, particularly Machine Learning, Virtual Reality, and Gamification, to create systems that improve decision-making and task performance across education, business, health, and wellness domains. He has established several significant research projects including the Adaptable Game-based, Interactive Learning Environments for STEM Education (AGILE STEM), a Machine Learning and Gamification project for personalized-adaptive educational applications, and the VR CLICK Approach Project for improving spatial visualization skills. His scholarly work demonstrates consistent innovation in educational technology, with particular emphasis on developing machine learning algorithms that can personalize learning experiences and adapt pedagogical content to individual students' needs. His research on multilingual Twitter datasets related to the COVID-19 pandemic has generated significant scholarly interest, resulting in over 3 billion collected tweets and multiple publications analyzing global reactions to pandemic policies. Dr. López's work consistently bridges theoretical computer science with practical educational applications, creating systems that not only advance knowledge but also have immediate impact in classroom settings. Best Paper Award from Consortium for Computing Sciences in Colleges Regional Conference New IE Educator Outstanding Paper Award (awarded twice) ASME CIE Virtual Environments & Systems Best Paper Award Mid-Atlantic ASEE Committee Best Paper Award As an educator, Dr. López teaches courses including Introduction to Engineering: Design & Data Mining (ES 101), Introduction to Game Programming (CS 104), Introduction to Machine Learning (CS 414), and Principles of Data Science (DS 201). He has mentored numerous undergraduate students including Nathan Dinh, Alexa Gould, and Malolan Vasu on research projects related to gamification, machine learning, and virtual reality applications. His students have presented their collaborative work at major conferences including the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences. Dr. López leads the VR/AR Community of Practice at Lafayette College, fostering interdisciplinary collaboration around virtual and augmented reality technologies. His research lab focuses on developing innovative educational applications that leverage machine learning algorithms to personalize learning experiences and improve student outcomes in STEM fields, with current projects including AI-driven educational game development and VR applications for spatial visualization training.







