[Picture of me]

David Akers
Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
University of Puget Sound
Office: Thompson Hall 600
Phone: 253-879-3126
Email: dakers AT pugetsound.edu

 [UPS image]

Background  |  CV   |   Teaching  
Research  |   Publications  |  

Background
I am currently an Assistant Professor of Computer Science at the University of Puget Sound in Tacoma, WA.
Education (curriculum vitae)

Teaching
Current Classes (Spring 2012)
Recent Classes (Fall 2011)
Research
I have a variety of research interests, which fall into three categories:
Data visualization tools for mathematics education
  • While a graduate student at Stanford, I co-developed the Geode software for understanding ordinary differential equations.

  • While an undergraduate at Brown University, I developed the g(z) software for understanding complex function graphs.
Scientific visualization
  • While a graduate student at Stanford, I developed the CINCH and DTI-Query software to help neuroscientists understand the structure of the human brain. DTI-Query was co-developed with Anthony Sherbondy.

  • At Stanford, I also worked on a project to help archaeologists convey the shape and features of objects. The work is described in this paper.
Semi-automated usability evaluation methods
  • For my Ph.D. dissertation at Stanford, I developed a new methodology for automatically detecting and characterizing usability problems in creation-oriented software applications such as photo editors or word processors.

Publications
(PDF) D. Akers. Backtracking Events as Indicators of Software Usability Problems. Ph.D. dissertation, Stanford University, October, 2009.
(PDF) D. Akers, M. Simpson, R. Jeffries, and T. Winograd. Undo and Erase Events as Indicators of Usability Problems. In Proceedings of CHI 2009, pp. 659-668, ACM Press (2009). (BEST PAPER AWARD)
(PDF) D. Akers. CINCH: A Cooperatively Designed Marking Interface for 3D Pathway Selection. In Proceedings of UIST 2006, pp. 33-42, ACM Press (2006).
(PDF) D. Akers. Wizard of Oz for Participatory Design: Inventing an Interface for 3D Selection of Neural Pathway Estimates. In Proceedings of CHI 2006 Extended Abstracts, pp. 454-459, ACM Press (2006).
(PDF) A. Sherbondy, D. Akers, R. Mackenzie, R. Dougherty, and B. Wandell. Exploring Connectivity of the Brain's White Matter with Dynamic Queries. IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics 11:4, pp. 419-430, IEEE Press (2005).
(PDF) D. Akers, A. Sherbondy, R. Mackenzie, R. Dougherty, and B. Wandell. Exploration of the Brain's White Matter Pathways with Dynamic Queries. In Proceedings of Visualization 2004, pp. 377-384, IEEE Press (2004).
(PDF) D. Akers, F. Losasso, J. Klingner, M. Agrawala, J. Rick, and P. Hanrahan. Conveying Shape and Features with Image Based Relighting. In Proceedings of IEEE Visualization 2003, pp. 349-354, IEEE Press (2003).
(PDF) S. Tanimoto, W. Winn, D. Akers. A System That Supports Using Student-Drawn Diagrams to Assess Comprehension of Mathematical Formulas. In Proceedings of Diagrams 2002, pp. 100-102, Springer (2002).
(HTML) D. Akers and R. Goldberg. BioEqCalc: A Package for Performing Equilibrium Calculations on Biochemical Reactions. The Mathematica Journal 8:1, 2001, pp. 86- 113, Wolfram Media (2001).
(HTML) N. Kishore, Y. Tewari, D. Akers, R. Goldberg, and E. Miles. A Thermodynamic Investigation of Reactions Catalyzed by Tryptophan Synthase. Biophysical Chemistry, Vol. 73, 1998, pp. 265-280, Elsevier (1998).
Last updated January 20, 2011.