Assistant Professor, Department of Information Sciences

Email: [email protected]
Phone: 616-331-7731
Office: DCIH 530K

Education
Ph.D. in Spatial Information Science & Engineering, University of Maine, 2024

Dr. Paul D. S. Fink is an Assistant Professor in the College of Computing and an expert in accessibility, human-centered computing, and multisensory information processing. His research focuses on inclusive technologies, including autonomous vehicle systems, nonvisual navigation tools, mid-air haptics, and AI-powered interaction design. He has secured over $1.1 million in competitive funding and collaborated with partners such as the Toyota Research Institute and the U.S. Department of Transportation. Dr. Fink teaches courses in artificial intelligence, user interface design, ethics, accessibility, and digital fluency. 

In Fall 2025 semester, he will launch the Wayfinding, Accessible Interaction, and Virtual Environment (WAIVE) Lab to further inclusive computing research and education.

• Fink, P . D. S., Milne, H., Caccese, A., Alsamsam, M., Loranger, J., Colley, M., & Giudice, N. A. (2024).
  Accessible Maps for the Future of Inclusive Ridesharing. Proceedings of the 16th International
  Conference on Automotive User Interfaces and Interactive Vehicular Applications (AutoUI '24).
  https://doi.org/10.1145/3640792.3675736.
• Fink, P . D. S. (2024). Multisensory Communication of Real-Time Decision State-Space Visualizations in
  Autonomous Vehicles. In AutomotiveUI 2024 Workshop, W12 – Symbiotic: A Workshop on Transferability
  between Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) and Autonomous Vehicle Interaction Research.
• Bennett, C. R., Fink, P . D. S., & Giudice, N. A. (2024).
  “X-Ray Vision” as a Compensatory Augmentation for
  Slowing Cognitive Map Decay in Older Adults. Proceedings of the CHI Conference on Human Factors in
  Computing Systems (CHI ‘24). https://doi.org/10.1145/3613904.3642644. (Acceptance rate 26.3%).
• Fink, P . D. S., Doore, S. A., Lin, X., Maring, M., Zhao, P ., Nygaard, A., Beals, G., Corey, R. R., Perry, R. J., Freund,
  K., Dimitrov, V ., & Giudice, N. A. (2023). The Autonomous Vehicle Assistant (AVA): Emerging technology
  design supporting blind and visually impaired travelers in autonomous transportation. International
  Journal of Human-Computer Studies, 179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhcs.2023.103125
• Fink, P . D. S., Alsamsam, M., Brown, J. R., Kindler, H. D., & Giudice, N. A. (2023). Give us something to
  chauffeur it: Exploring user needs in traditional and fully autonomous ridesharing for people who are
  blind or visually impaired. Transportation Research Part F: Traffic Psychology and Behaviour, 98, 91–103.
  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trf.2023.09.004

• MaineDOT: Augmented Information in the Driving Environment. Co-PI. 2024.
• USDOT: The Autonomous Vehicle Assistant. Co-PI. 2022. 
• USDOT: Ride-hailing and Localization for Accessible Mobility. Co-PI. 2020.
• NSF Grant CHS-1910603: Improving User Trust of Autonomous Vehicles. Key personnel. 2019.