CV

Education

• Ph.D in Computer Science, University of Waterloo, 2026 (Expected)
• M.S. in Computer Science, Colorado State University, 2016
• B.S. in Computer Science & Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, 2011

Work experience

• September 2021 - Present:
  Doctoral Researcher (WVisdom Group, Waterloo HCI Lab)
  David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science
  University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada
  Supervisor: Dr. Jian Zhao
  • Designed and implemented real-time multimodal VR interaction systems integrating beyond-field-of-view gestures, spatial input, locomotion, and object interaction using Unity/C#, Python, Vicon motion tracking, and custom interaction pipelines.
  • Developed Arduino-based rapid interaction prototypes and experimental tooling for wearable interaction research.
  • Conducted usability, workload, latency, and ergonomic evaluations in multimodal interaction studies (18–24 participants).
  • Collaborated with industrial research teams including Huawei HMI Lab on wearable and XR interaction prototyping.
  • Published peer-reviewed research on VR, wearable computing, and multimodal interaction in leading HCI venues (UbiComp 2024, GI 2026).
• May 2018 - Present:
  Lecturer (Computer Science)
  Department of Electrical & Computer Engineeering (ECE)
  North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • Instructed undergraduate Computer Science courses including Algorithms, Software Engineering, Mobile Application Development, and Software Quality Assurance as a full-time CS faculty in ECE department.
  • Supervised undergraduate HCI and interactive systems research projects involving software prototyping and usability evaluation, including projects resulting in peer-reviewed publication outcomes in leading HCI venue (CHI 2023).
  • Led industry–academia engagement initiatives for the School of Engineering and Physical Sciences (SEPS) and coordinated university-wide digital career platform initiatives at the NSU Career and Placement Center (CPC), driving employer partnerships, campus recruitment programs, professional skills development, and student career services modernization.
  • Supported the development and launch of the B-MEET IT international technology career initiative at NSU in collaboration with the University of Miyazaki, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), and the Bangladeshi government, expanding global industry engagement and professional development opportunities for 10K+ engineering students.
  • On academic leave for doctoral degree at University of Waterloo (Sep 2021 - Present).
• June 2016 - February 2018:
  R&D Software Engineer 2
  Department of Electrical & Computer Engineeering (ECE)
  Keysight Technologies, Santa Rosa, CA, USA
  • Developed and prototyped interactive visualization, usability, and workflow features for Electronic Design Automation (EDA) platforms including ADS and GoldenGate using C++14, Qt, and GTest in collaboration with cross-functional software, UX, and product teams.
  • Modernized legacy engineering software infrastructure into scalable C++14/Qt architectures, improving maintainability, automated testing, debugging, and software reliability.
  • Debugged integration, performance, testing, and CI/CD pipeline issues across large-scale commercial software systems and release workflows.
• August 2014 - May 2016:
  Research Assistant
  Computer Science (CS) Department
  Colorado State University (CSU), Fort Collins, CO, USA
  • Designed and prototyped wearable and mobile interaction systems and evaluation workflows for gesture-based, off-device, and multimodal input techniques; authored and presented research papers at leading HCI venues (CHI, MobileHCI).
  • Conducted participant studies, usability evaluations, experimental data analysis and developed software tools for DARPA-funded Communication with Computers (CwC) project.
  • Mentored undergrad CS students in Computer Organization and Object-oriented Problem Solving as a lab instructor.
• March 2011 - July 2014:
  Senior Software Engineer / Software Engineer
  Mobile Labs-1
  Samsung R&D Institute Bangladesh (SRBD), Dhaka, Bangladesh
  • Developed and integrated mobile platform features across 17 Android, Bada/Tizen, and feature-phone devices using C/C++, Java, and embedded mobile development workflows.
  • Implemented telephony, localization, integration testing, debugging, and OTA software release workflows within large-scale mobile commercialization pipelines.
  • Ported legacy software to new hardware platforms and resolved integration, performance, and release issues across cross-functional engineering teams in Korea, UAE, and India.
  • Mentored junior engineers on platform debugging, JTAG/Trace32 diagnostics, CI/CD workflows, and software release management
  • Awarded SRBD Best Employee for critical contributions to mobile platform delivery (March 2013).

Skills

• Programming Languages: Python, Java, C++, C#, Kotlin, TypeScript, R, Matlab
• XR and Interactive Systems: Unity, Meta XR SDK, Arduino-based prototyping, VR interaction prototyping, Wearable interaction systems, Real-time interaction pipelines
• AI / ML / Sensing: PyTorch, TensorFlow, OpenCV, Multimodal sensing, gesture interaction systems, model inference workflows, human-centered AI
• Platforms and Tools: Android, QT, Linux, Windows, Git, Perforce, Subversion, Vicon Motion Tracking, JTAG/Trace32
• Research and Evaluation: Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), multimodal interaction, usability testing, experimental design, statistical analysis, rapid prototyping

Publications

Exploring Above-neck Unimanual Swipe Gestures for Off-Device Earable Interaction

Shaikh Shawon Arefin Shimon and Ali Neshati and Junwei Sun and Qiang Xu and Jian Zhao. 2026. "Exploring Above-neck Unimanual Swipe Gestures for Off-Device Earable Interaction." In Proceedings of the Graphics Interface 2026 (GI "26). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 20 pages.

Exploring Uni-manual Around Ear Off-Device Gestures for Earables

Shaikh Shawon Arefin Shimon, Ali Neshati, Junwei Sun, Qiang Xu, and Jian Zhao. 2024. "Exploring Uni-manual Around Ear Off-Device Gestures for Earables." Proc. ACM Interact. Mob. Wearable Ubiquitous Technol. 8, 1, Article 3 (March 2024), 29 pages.

MFS Design in Appstore-enabled Smart Featurephones for Low-literate, Marginalized Communities

Mohammad Rayed, Tawfique Elahi, Shaikh Shawon Arefin Shimon, and Nova Ahmed. 2023. "MFS Design in Appstore-enabled Smart Featurephones for Low-literate, Marginalized Communities." In Proceedings of the 2023 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI "23). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, Article 762, 1–19.

Exploring Non-touchscreen Gestures for Smartwatches

Shaikh Shawon Arefin Shimon, Courtney Lutton, Zichun Xu, Sarah Morrison-Smith, Christina Boucher, and Jaime Ruiz. 2016. "Exploring Non-touchscreen Gestures for Smartwatches." In Proceedings of the 2016 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (CHI "16). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 3822–3833.

Exploring User-Defined Back-Of-Device Gestures for Mobile Devices

Shaikh Shawon Arefin Shimon, Sarah Morrison-Smith, Noah John, Ghazal Fahimi, and Jaime Ruiz. 2015. "Exploring User-Defined Back-Of-Device Gestures for Mobile Devices." In Proceedings of the 17th International Conference on Human-Computer Interaction with Mobile Devices and Services (MobileHCI "15). Association for Computing Machinery, New York, NY, USA, 227–232.

Talks

Exploring Above-neck Unimanual Swipe Gestures for Off-Device Earable Interaction

June 11, 2026

Talk at E7 Event Space, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

Bare-Hand Continuous VR Locomotion Using Beyond-FOV, Around-HMD Unimanual Gestures

June 09, 2026

Talk at E7 Event Space, University of Waterloo, Waterloo, ON, Canada

Exploring Uni-manual Around Ear Off-Device Gestures for Earables

October 07, 2024

Talk at Sofitel Melbourne on Collins, Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia

Exploring Non-touchscreen Gestures for Smartwatches

May 09, 2016

Talk at San Jose Convention Center, San Jose, CA, USA

Exploring User-Defined Back-Of-Device Gestures for Mobile Devices

August 26, 2015

Talk at Tivoli Congress Center, Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

Teaching

Graduate Teaching Assistant, University of Waterloo

Lecturer (Computer Science), North South University

Graduate Teaching Assistant, Colorado State University

Leadership

• Volunteer, Banglaeshi Graduate Student Association (BGSA), University of Waterloo, ON, Canada
• Volunteer, Bangladeshis in Kitchener-Waterloo Welfare Foundation (BDKWWF), Waterloo, ON, Canada
• Coordinator (School of Engineering), Career & Placement Center, North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Service

• Peer-Reviewer, ACM CHI (2023 - Present), ACM COMPASS 2026, IEEE VR 2025, ACM ISS 2023
• Program Committee Member, ACM COMPASS 2026
• Committee Member (Lab Instructor Recruitment), North South University, Dhaka, Bangladesh (2019 - 2021)

Awards

• Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS), Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU), ON, Canada (January 2025 – December 2026)
• President’s Graduate Scholarship (PGS), University of Waterloo, ON, Canada (January 2025 – December 2026)
• Cheriton Research Symposium Poster Award, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada (October 2023)
• David R. Cheriton Graduate Scholarship, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada (September 2021 – August 2022)
• Graduate Entrance Scholarship, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada (September 2021 – August 2022)
• Math Domestic Graduate Award, University of Waterloo, ON, Canada (September 2021 – December 2024)
• Best Employee Of The Month, Samsung R&D Institute Bangladesh (SRBD), Dhaka, Bangladesh (March 2013)

Membership

• Student Member, Association for Computing Machinery (ACM)
• Member, Special Interest Group on Computer–Human Interaction (SIGCHI)