Dr. Jaclyn, Chunyan Miao has been an Assistant Professor in the School of Computer Engineering at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) since Jan 2003. Her main research interests include intelligent agents and their applications in real world systems. Her current research focus is on exploring novel real time artificial intelligence and computational intelligence models for modeling human factors of agents (cognitive, trust, emotional, mobile, learning and reasoning). She is particularly interested in seamlessly integration of agent technology with other emerging technologies such as web, grid, virtual world, interactive media and wireless communication to create new experiences in various applications.

She was recently awarded 1.69-million research grant as the main principal investigator for research and design Intelligent Agent Augmented Multi-user Virtual Environments as Learning Environments of the Future from the joint R&D programme on Interactive Digital Media (IDM) of National Research Foundation (NRF) and Ministry of Education (MOE). As a co-principal investigator, she was also awarded another three NRF research grants over a million dollars in Agent Augmented Co-Space and Interactive Storytelling. Together, the four research grants she received from October 2007 to October 2008 amount to above 6 million.

She received a number of research awards including Singapore-UK e-Science Collaboration Award in 2006 and Tan Chin Tuan Engineering Fellowship for research attachment at Harvard and MIT in 2005.

One of her main research goals in the next five years is to infuse intelligent agents into various new media (virtual, mixed, mobile and pervasive media, etc.) to create new experiences and dimensions in game design and interactive narrative.

She believes that modeling and designing interactive storytelling/games as multi-agent systems represent an important new paradigm in game research. She is particularly interested in exploring player-centered interactive games/storytelling that enable situated community learning, transform the challenges of learning into playing and promote emotional maturity in young players who spend a lot of time on virtual/networked/mobile games to the detriment of their studies and risk losing their sense of reality. She is therefore interested in real time player/player behavior modeling including emotion and emotional behavior modeling, as well as trust and reputation modeling which is lacking in current games.

She is currently leading a team of over ten researchers and postgraduate students at NTU working on four research programs in interactive game design and narrative. Interactive digital media has been identified as one of the three major areas to be supported by NRF (National Research Foundation) Singapore. She believes that intelligence/agent augmentation will play a major role in future new media systems. As a long term research goal, she hopes to contribute to this effort together with her research team through in infusing intelligent agents into various interactive digital new media. She collaborates with leading research groups in agent, interactive digital media, games, education and mobile communication.

She is looking for researchers to join the team ... An excellent opportunity to explore something exciting & new in the agent mediated interactive digital media research ..."A student to her is a collaborator and a friend".