Faculty of Engineering
 

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Mirabelle D'Cruz

Head of Faculty Research and Knowledge Exchange, Faculty of Engineering

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Biography

I have been part of the Engineering Faculty since 1990 as an Undergraduate, Postgraduate and then a Researcher in Human Factors of Interactive Technologies. I have worked in, and led multi-disciplinary, inter-sectorial, multi-cultural and multi-lingual research teams. In 2000, as part of the Human Factors Research Group (HFRG), I began working on a number of European projects funded by the European Commission as a leader of several work packages (IRMA IMS-1999-0006, Future Workspaces IST-2001-38346, Knowmakers IST-NMP-1-507248-1), but also as a day-to-day project manager (VIEW of the Future IST-2000-26089) dealing with the on-going needs of the consortium partners; facilitating meetings, and managing budgets. This project led to the funding in 2004 - 2008 of the first EC network of excellence on virtual reality and virtual environments (INTUITION IST-NMP-1-507248-2, 58 project partners, 14 countries, total budget: ~€6M). As a result I took on the role as HFRG Director for European Research to enable me to lead the area. This included responsibility for strategic forecasting, project management and financial planning; from idea creation to supporting sustainability beyond the end of the project - cradle to grave.

I had an active role in eight European projects across Framework Programmes (FP5, FP6, FP7, H2020) with a total EC contribution of ~€29 Million (DIFAC IST-5-035079; ManuVAR CP-IP-211548; VR-Hyperspace AAT-285681; IMOSHION SME-2-243481; VISTRA FoF-ICT-285176; 3D-PITOTI ICT-600645; 3D-Tune-In ICT-644051; PASSME AAT-636308); and provided project and cost support for sixteen additional projects. I was instrumental in growing the European research portfolio over 18 years to 24 EU projects with between 6 - 60 consortium partners, and ~400 industrial, academic and research contacts across Europe (Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Poland, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland) and in Japan and the US.

In 2014, I divided my role to work part-time with HFRG and part-time for the Faculty as part of the Engineering Research Office, as an International Research Development Manager . This role was to work more closely with the Faculty's research groups to support their development of strategies to engage with International stakeholders and funders, such as Virginia Tech and the National Science Foundation (NSF), as well as with our other campuses.

In 2019, I was appointed full-time as Head of Faculty Research & Knowledge Exchange (RKE); to lead the Engineering Research Office and work closely with the Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor for RKE to implement the Faculty's Research Strategy 2020 and beyond.

Recent Publications

  • KEFALIDOU, G., CASTRO, A., D'CRUZ, M. and MARCELINO, R., 2019. Designing airport interiors with 3D visualizations
  • LAURA LEWIS, HARSHADA PATEL, MIRABELLE D'CRUZ and SUE COBB, 2017. What makes a space invader? Passenger perceptions of personal space invasion in aircraft travel Ergonomics.
  • HARSHADA PATEL and MIRABELLE D'CRUZ, 2017. Passenger-centric factors influencing the experience of aircraft comfort Transport Reviews.
  • D'CRUZ, M., PATEL, H., HALLEWELL, M., SALANITRI, D., VELZEN, J. and PICINALI, L., 2017. Novel 3D games for people with and without hearing loss
  • KULIK, A., KUNERT, A., BECK, S., MATTHES, C. F., SCHOLLMEYER, A., KRESKOWSKI, A., FRÖHLICH, B., COBB, S. and D’CRUZ, M., 2017. Virtual valcamonica: Collaborative exploration of prehistoric petroglyphs and their surrounding environment in multi-user virtual reality: Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments Presence: Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. 26(3), 297-321
  • PATEL, H., COBB, S., HALLEWELL, M., D'CRUZ, M., EASTGATE, R., PICINALI, L. and TAMASCELLI, S., 2016. User involvement in design and application of virtual reality gamification to facilitate the use of hearing aids. In: Proceedings of Interactive Technologies and Games (ITAG) Conference 2016.. (In Press.)
  • FEI, T., DE JOUX, N., KEFALIDOU, G., D'CRUZ, M. and SHARPLES, S., 2016. Towards understanding information needs and user acceptance of mobile technologies to improve passenger experience in airports In: European Conference on Cognitive Ergonomics (ECCE). To appear in Proceedings (In Press.)
  • LANGLEY, A., LAWSON, G., HERMAWATI, S., D'CRUZ, M., APOLD, J., ARLT, F. and MURA, K., 2016. Establishing the Usability of a Virtual Training System for Assembly Operations within the Automotive Industry: Human Factors and Ergonomics In Manufacturing Human Factors and Ergonomics In Manufacturing.
  • LEWIS, L., PATEL, H., COBB, S., D'CRUZ, M., BUES, M., STEFANI, O. and GROBLER, T., 2016. Distracting people from sources of discomfort in a simulated aircraft environment: Work Work. 54(4), 963-979
  • LEWIS, L., PATEL, H., COBB, S., D'CRUZ, M., BUES, M., STEFANI, O. and GROBLER, T., 2016. Distracting people from sources of discomfort in a simulated aircraft environment: Work Work. 54(4), 963-979
  • HERMAWATI S, LAWSON G, D'CRUZ M, ARLT F, APOLD J, ANDERSSON L, LÖVGREN MG and MALMSKÖLD L, 2015. Understanding the complex needs of automotive training at final assembly lines. Applied ergonomics. 46 Pt A, 144-57
  • NATASA LACKOVICA, CHARLES CROOK, SUE COBB and SALLY SHALLOE, 2015. Imagining technology-enhanced learning with heritage artefacts: teacher-perceived potential of 2D and 3D heritage site visualisations Educational Research. 57(3), 331 - 351
  • EASTGATE, R., PICINALI, L., PATEL, H. and D'CRUZ, M., 2015. 3D Games for Tuning and Learning about Hearing Aids: Hearing Journal Hearing Journal. 69(4), 30-32
  • EASTGATE, R., PICINALI, L., PATEL, H. and D'CRUZ, M., 2015. 3D Games for Tuning and Learning about Hearing Aids: Hearing Journal Hearing Journal. 69(4), 30-32
  • EASTGATE, RM., WILSON, JR. and DCRUZ, MD., 2014. Structured Development of Virtual Environments. In: HALE, KS. and STANNEY, KM., eds., Handbook of Virtual Environments: Design, Implementation, and Applications 2. CRC Press. 353 - 389
  • FLOYDE, A., LAWSON, G., SHALLOE, S., EASTGATE, R. and D'CRUZ, M., 2013. The design and implementation of knowledge management systems and e-learning for improved occupational health and safety in small to medium sized enterprises Safety Science. 69-76
  • LAWSON. G., HERMAWATI, S., D'CRUZ, M., COBB, S. and SHALLOE, S., 2012. Human Factors research methods in the design and evaluation of applied virtual environments. Dutch Journal of Ergonomics. 37(3), 5-10
  • LISTON, PAUL M., KAY, ALISON, CROMIE, SAM, LEVA, CHIARA, D'CRUZ, MIRABELLE, PATEL, HARSHADA, LANGLEY, ALYSON, SHARPLES, SARAH and AROMAA, SUSANNA, 2012. Evaluating the iterative development of VR/AR human factors tools for manual work WORK-A JOURNAL OF PREVENTION ASSESSMENT & REHABILITATION. 41, 2208-2215
  • LAWSON, GLYN and D'CRUZ, MIRABELLE, 2011. Ergonomics Methods and the Digital Factory DIGITAL FACTORY FOR HUMAN-ORIENTED PRODUCTION SYSTEMS: THE INTEGRATION OF INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH PROJECTS. 23-34
  • EDLIN-WHITE, ROB, COBB, SUE, D'CRUZ, MIRABELLE, FLOYDE, ANNE, LEWTHWAITE, SARAH and RIEDEL, JOHANN, 2011. Accessibility for Older Users through Adaptive Interfaces: Opportunities, Challenges and Achievements HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION: TOWARDS MOBILE AND INTELLIGENT INTERACTION ENVIRONMENTS, PT III. 6763, 483-489
  • GOLIGHTLY, D., D'CRUZ, M., PATEL, H., PETTITT, M., SHARPLES, S., STEDMON, A. and WILSON, JR., 2010. Novel interaction styles and complex working contexts. In: M. ALBERS and BRIAN STILL, eds., Usability of Complex Information Systems: Evaluation of User Interaction CRC Press, Taylor and Francis. 281-303
  • LISTON, PAUL, CROMIE, SAM, LEVA, MARIA-CHIARA, HELIN, KAJ and D'CRUZ, MIRABELLE, 2010. ManuVAR Training: Supporting the Implementation and Design of VR/AR Quality-improvement Tools for Manual Handling ADVANCES IN OCCUPATIONAL, SOCIAL, AND ORGANIZATIONAL ERGONOMICS. 653-663
  • KRASSI, BORIS, D'CRUZ, MIRABELLE and VINK, PETER, 2010. ManuVAR: A Framework for Improving Manual Work Through Virtual and Augmented Reality ADVANCES IN OCCUPATIONAL, SOCIAL, AND ORGANIZATIONAL ERGONOMICS. 725-734
  • SACCO, M., REDAELLI, C., CONSTANTINESCU, C., LAWSON, G., D CRUZ, M. and PAPPAS, M., 2007. DiFac: Digital Factory for Human Oriented Production System LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE. NUMB 4553, 1140-1149
  • SACCO, MARCO, REDAELLI, CLAUDIA, CONSTANTINESCU, CARMEN, LAWSON, GLYN, D'CRUZ, MIRABELLE and PAPPAS, MENELAOS, 2007. DiFac: Digital factory for human oriented production system HUMAN-COMPUTER INTERACTION, PT 4, PROCEEDINGS. 4553, 1140-1149
  • WILSON, JR and D'CRUZ, M, 2006. Virtual And Interactive Environments For Work Of The Future International Journal Of Human-Computer Studies. 64(3), 158-169
  • RONKKO, J, MARKKANEN, J, LAUNONEN, R, FERRINO, M, GAIA, E, BASSO, V, PATEL, H, D'CRUZ, M and LAUKKANEN, S, 2006. Multimodal Astronaut Virtual Training Prototype International Journal Of Human-Computer Studies. 64(3), 182-191
  • WILSON,J.R., EASTGATE,R.M. and D'CRUZ,M., 2003. Structured development of virtual environments. In: STANNEY, K., ed., Handbook of Virtual Environments Erlbaum (Lawrence) Associates Ltd,. 353-378
  • WILSON, JOHN R, BROWN, DAVID J, COBB, SUSAN V, DCRUZ, MIRABELLE M and EASTGATE, RICHARD M, 1995. Manufacturing operations in virtual environments (MOVE) Presence-Teleoperators and Virtual Environments. 4(3), 306-317

Faculty of Engineering

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