Scott Hudson

Timeline

1. 1986–1997

   Colorado doctorate and faculty posts

   He earns a computer science PhD at the University of Colorado in 1986. His early faculty roles include assistant professor of computer science at the University of Arizona and associate professor in Georgia Tech's College of Computing. In 1997, he joins Carnegie Mellon's Human-Computer Interaction Institute.

2. 1999–2000

   Founding the HCII doctorate

   In 1999, he leads the committee that creates Carnegie Mellon's Human-Computer Interaction Institute PhD program. The program admits its first class in 2000, and he serves as its founding director.

3. 2004

   Predicting when people are interruptible

   At CHI in 2004, he coauthors “Examining the robustness of sensor-based statistical models of human interruptibility” with James Fogarty and Jennifer Lai. The study tests how sensor accuracy, training data quantity, and combinations of sensors affect models that estimate whether office workers can be interrupted.

4. 2006

   Election to the CHI Academy

   He is elected to the CHI Academy in 2006.

5. April 2014

   Printing soft objects from yarn

   In April 2014, he publishes “Printing Teddy Bears,” introducing a 3D printer that makes soft, flexible objects. It entangles wool or wool-blend yarn with the layers below it.

6. 2017

   SIGCHI lifetime service award

   He is named the recipient of the SIGCHI Lifetime Achievement in Service Award in 2017. His service includes being a founding associate editor of ACM Transactions on Computer-Human Interaction and chairing CHI and UIST conference committees.

7. 2021

   SIGCHI lifetime research award

   In 2021, he receives SIGCHI's Lifetime Achievement Award in Research. His work includes software tools for graphical interfaces, sensors in interactive devices, and machine learning for human-computer interaction.

8. 2024

   An ACM fellowship

   He joins the 2024 class of ACM Fellows for contributions to user interface software, interactive devices, and computational fabrication in human-computer interaction.

9. 2026

   NoRILLA wins the Transform Prize

   In 2026, NoRILLA, which he helps develop with Nesra Yannier and Ken Koedinger, wins the Tools Competition's Transform Prize. The mixed-reality science learning system uses computer vision and AI to track children's physical experiments and give personalized feedback.

10. As of October 2026

    Professor and associate director

    As of October 2026, he is a professor and Associate Director for Academics in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute at Carnegie Mellon University. His research areas include human-agent and human-robot interaction, physical interfaces, and accessibility.