Rate My Professor Elham Ebrahimi

Elham Ebrahimi, known professionally as Ellie Ebrahimi, is an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science within the College of Science and Engineering at the University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW). She holds a Ph.D. in Human-Centered Computing from Clemson University. As the Computer Science Undergraduate Program Coordinator, she oversees program development and works closely with students in the VR Research Learning Lab. Her career at UNCW has progressed from Assistant Professor to Associate Professor, during which she has chaired proceedings for the Master's in Computer Science and Information Systems Symposium (MSCSIS) and contributed to graduate faculty listings.

Ebrahimi's research specializes in virtual reality (VR), immersive environments, human-centered design, and perception-action interactions. Her work explores visuo-haptic feedback, cybersickness mitigation through peripheral blur, avatar fidelity effects on emotion contagion and depth perception, and visuo-motor calibration in 3D interactions. Key publications include 'Effects of virtual human appearance fidelity on emotion contagion in affective inter-personal simulations' (2016, IEEE Transactions on Visualization and Computer Graphics), 'An empirical evaluation of visuo-haptic feedback on physical reaching behaviors during 3D interaction in real and immersive virtual environments' (2016, ACM Transactions on Applied Perception), 'How the presence and size of static peripheral blur affects cybersickness in virtual reality' (2020, ACM Transactions on Applied Perception), 'Examining the effects of altered avatars on perception-action in virtual reality' (2019, Journal of Experimental Psychology: Applied), and 'Investigating the effects of anthropomorphic fidelity of self-avatars on near field depth perception in immersive virtual environments' (2018, IEEE VR). These works have garnered significant citations and advanced VR applications in education and human factors. Currently, she develops educational technologies for STEM workforce development, including Cyber-PARK, an NSF- and NCInnovation-funded platform delivering cybersecurity education via games for K-5 students to foster problem-solving and STEM interest; the Lookupp app promoting teen emotional resilience through reduced social media use; and Spellingual, a gamified web app aiding spelling in multilingual Farsi-speaking children. Ebrahimi co-leads NSF initiatives promoting women in STEM and influences digital safety and accessibility.