Divya Lalitha Ramachandran



divya AT cs DOT berkeley DOT edu


I have recently completed my Ph.D. in computer science at the EECS department and Berkeley Institute of Design at UC Berkeley. My research is in the field of Human-Computer Interaction, specifically in the area of using mobile, persuasive videos for health information access and training of rural health workers in developing regions. My advisor is Professor John Canny. I did my undergrad at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City.

Education

Ph.D. in Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley, August 2010

B.S. in Computer Engineering, University of Utah, May 2004

Projects

First Days: Mobilizing Health Workers to Improve Maternal and Child Health in Rural India

Speech Recognition for the Mobile Phone

Mobile Immersive Language Learning in Emerging Economies (MILLEE)



Papers

Divya Ramachandran, Mobile Persuasive Technologies for Rural Health, Ph.D. Thesis, Computer Science, University of California, Berkeley

Divya Ramachandran, Vivek Goswami, John Canny.  Research and Reality: Using Mobile Messages to Promote Maternal Health in Rural India.  In Proceedings of the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development (London, England), December 13-16, 2010. [slides]

Divya Ramachandran, John Canny, Prabhu Dutta Das, Ed Cutrell.  Mobile-izing Health Workers in Rural India.  In Proceedings of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (Atlanta, Georgia), April 10-15, 2010.  Best Paper Award. [slides]

Yaw Anokwa, Thomas Smyth, Divya Ramachandran, Jahanzeb Sherwani, Yael Schwartzman, Rowena Luk, Melissa Ho, Neema Moraveji, Brian DeRenzi.  Stories from the Field: Reflections on HCI4D Experiences. Information Technologies and International Development, 5(4), 101-116.

Divya Ramachandran and John Canny.  The Persuasive Power of Human-Machine Dialogue.  H. Oinas-Kukkonen et al. (Eds.):  PERSUASIVE 2008, LNCS 5033, pp. 189-200, 2008 (Oulu, Finland), June 4-6, 2008. [slides] Best Paper Award.

Divya Ramachandran, Matthew Kam, Jane Chiu, John Canny, and James L. Frankel. Social Dynamics of Early Stage Co-Design in Developing Regions. Proceedings of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (San Jose, California), April 28-May 3, 2007.[slides]

Matthew Kam, Divya Ramachandran, Varun Devanathan, Anuj Tewari, and John Canny. Localized Iterative Design for Language Learning in Underdeveloped Regions: The PACE Framework . Proceedings of ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (San Jose, California), April 28-May 3, 2007.

Matthew Kam, Divya Ramachandran, Anand Raghavan, Jane Chiu, Urvashi Sahni, John Canny. Practical considerations for participatory design with rural school children in underdeveloped regions: Early reflections from the field. In Proceedings of 5th International Conference for Interaction Design and Children (Tampere, Finland), June 7-9, 2006.[slides]

Matthew Kam, Divya Ramachandran, Urvashi Sahni, and John Canny. Designing Educational Technology for Developing Regions: Some Preliminary Hypotheses. IEEE 3rd International Workshop on Technology for Education in Developing Countries. In Proceedings of IEEE International Conference on Advanced Learning Technologies (Kaohsiung, Taiwan), July 5-8, 2005.

Talks

Research and Reality: Using Mobile Messages to Promote Maternal Health in Rural India (December 14, 2010), Information and Communications Technologies and Development (ICTD) Conference, London, U.K.

 

Presenter on panel “New Voices in HCI” (October 1, 2010), HCI Day, Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Atlanta, GA, USA

 

Designing Technologies for the Poorest People on the Planet: A Study of Mobile Phones for Rural Health (August 4, 2010), Research Experience for Undergraduates, University of Houston, USA

 

Mobile Persuasive Technologies for Rural Health (May 6, 2010), Computer Science Dept., University of California, Berkeley, USA

 

Mobile-izing Health Workers in Rural India (April 14, 2010), Human Factors in Computing (CHI) Conference, Atlanta, GA, USA

 

Designing Mobile Persuasive Technologies for Rural Health Promotion (April 9, 2010), Computer Science Dept., University of Houston, USA

                                                                                                                

Mobile Persuasive Technologies for Rural Health (April 5, 2010), School of Information, University of Michigan, USA

 

Mobile-izing Health Workers in Rural India (December 13, 2009), Cuttack Nursing College, Cuttack, Orissa, India

 

Presenter on panel “Women Researching Women: Gateways to Technology-enabled Socio-economic Development” (October 2, 2009), Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, Tucson, AZ, USA

 

Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Improve Maternal Health in India (August 3, 2009), GetSET lab tour, Berkeley, CA, USA

 

Presenter on panel “Challenges in Technology for Healthcare,” mHealth India Workshop (April 28, 2009), Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

 

Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Improve Maternal Health in India (October 18, 2008), Technology and Infrastructure for Emerging Regions Workshop, Berkeley, CA, USA

 

Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Improve Maternal Health in India (August 25, 2008), Microsoft Research Labs, Bangalore, India

 

Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Improve Maternal Health in India (August 14, 2008), Jagannath Institute for Technology and Management, Paralakhemundi, Orissa, India

 

Mobilizing Community Health Workers to Improve Maternal Health in India (August 6, 2008), Human Development Foundation, Bhubaneswar, Orissa, India

 

Helping Community Health Workers Promote Healthy Communities (April 29, 2008), Qualifying Exam, Berkeley, CA, USA

 

Technology Design for Developing Regions: Lessons from the Field (July 19, 2007), Potenco Inc., Alameda, CA, USA