About me
I am a PhD candidate in Computer Science and Engineering at the University of Washington, advised by Jon Froehlich and Leah Findlater. My research intersects human-computer interaction (HCI) and applied machine learning, and focuses on inventing novel sound sensing and feedback techniques to support accessibilty applications. This work has been published at the most selective HCI venues such as CHI, UIST, DIS, and ASSETS, has received multiple best paper awards and honorable mentions, drawn the attention of industry research such as Microsoft, Google, and Apple, and has been publicly released (e.g., SoundWatch). I am supported by a Microsoft Dissertation Grant and a Google-CMD-IT LEAP Alliance Fellowship.
Before starting my PhD, I completed by masters from MIT Media Lab, bachelors from IIT Delhi, and took a gap year to backpack 21 countries. Through publishing a critical reflection of my travel experiences as a hard of hearing individual, I pioneered the use of auto-ethnography in accessible computing research. My biggest pride is Roshni, a low-cost indoor navigation system for visually impaired users, which was installed in a National Science Museum for two years and has been used by over 75,000 people.
Besides research, I provide scuba instruction and conduct DIY workshops—so far, I have taught in seven one-week workshops in four countries. Atleast two teams from these workshops have continued their projects and launched multinational companies.
Excitingly, I am on the job market for the year 2021-22 and looking for tenure-track faculty as well as industrial research positions in accessibility, human-centered computing, applied AI, and acoustics. See a 1-minute pitch.
CV | Research Statement (3 pages) | Research Statement (5 pages) | Teaching Statement | Diversity Statement
If you think I can be a fruitful addition to your team, please reach out to me at djain [at] cs [dot] uw [dot] edu.
