Steven Dow is a Professor in the Cognitive Science Department and the Design Lab at UC San Diego, Director of the ProtoLab research group, and Co-Founder of the Design for San Diego initiative. His research on human-computer interaction, creativity, social computing and collective intelligence seeks to engage diverse teams and communities to co-create better, more inclusive, and more sustainable outcomes. Prof. Dow received the NSF CAREER Award in 2015 for research on “advancing collective innovation.” His research has been funded by multiple National Science Foundation grants, a Google Faculty Grant, a Yankelovich Center for Social Science Research Award, Stanford’s Postdoctoral Research Award, and a Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Grant. He holds an MS-HCI and PhD in Human-Centered Computing from the Georgia Institute of Technology and a BS in Industrial Engineering from University of Iowa.
Contact
spdow@ucsd.edu
office hours: by appt
lab: SSRB room 100
office: DIB room 365
9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0515
Past and Present Affiliations
FAQ
Can undergrads and master’s students get involved in the Protolab research group?
If you are interested in our lab’s research, I would advise you to check out the ProtoLab website and read a few of our papers. If you are an undergraduate or master’s student who wants to get involved, please check this page periodically for job and volunteer opportunities. We usually bring on new students for the start of the school year and for summer internships.
Are you looking for graduate students? If so, what are you looking for in candidates?
Maybe. I am always on the lookout for strong graduate students to join the PhD programs at UC San Diego. I am generally looking for students who have some mix of design, computer science, and human sciences. Our lab often designs and develops prototypes of interactive systems that allow us to experiment on some aspect of the human experience. Prospective PhD students should apply either to the Cognitive Science PhD program or the Computer Science and Engineering program, and if you would like to potentially work with me, make sure to mention my name in your application.
Can I get your advice on my applications to graduate school?
No, I advise you to just apply. I get tons of email these days, and my response to the question is always that you should go ahead and apply to the best of your abilities. Apply to extra schools so that you hopefully have several options available. If you are a top candidate, we will get a chance to talk before you are admitted or before you accept the offer to join the program.
How can I become an IA for one of your classes?
Thank you for your interest in assisting my classes on Social Computing, Prototyping, Startup Studio, and Civic Design. Becoming an undergraduate IA (instructional assistant) is a great way to get mentoring experience and to reinforce the course material. To become an IA, first take my course and do a good job; students must earn an A or A- to be considered. Take the course early enough so that you can serve as an IA in your senior or junior year. If you’re ready, apply to be an IA here and send me a quick email to let me know you’re keen.
How can I earn your letter of recommendation when I apply for jobs or graduate school?
I am more than happy to write a letter of recommendation for students who do a good job on either a research project in the lab or as a teaching/instructional assistant. Unfortunately I do not have capacity or enough history to write letters for students who only take my classes (even if you do earn an A). I need to work with you so that I have material to write about. When you are ready to ask me for a letter, be sure to give me a few weeks advance notice and to create a list of your activities and accomplishments. Once I agree to write your letter, please fill out this release form and email it to cogslor@ucsd.edu. When you apply for jobs/schools, make sure to list my UCSD email address so that I receive the letter requests.
Talks and Travel Log
Academic life has provided wonderful opportunities travel, give talks, and see the world. I often try to extend my trips to conferences so that I have time to experience the local culture and food. This record of travel helps me remember all the places.
2024
Jul 1-5
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
June 27-28
June 24-26
ACM Creativity & Cognition 2024
Chicago, IL
June 7-8
Personal travel
Los Angeles, CA
May 22
Invited faculty talk in Cognitive Science at UC San Diego
San Diego, CA
May 4-5
Personal travel
Big Bear Lake, CA
Apr 6-7
Personal travel
Joshua Tree, CA
Mar 20-24
Personal travel
Paris, France
Mar 15-20
Personal travel
London, England
Feb 28
Invited talk (Cogs 1)
San Diego, CA
Feb 21-25
Personal travel
Granby, CO
2023
Oct 28-Nov 1
UIST 2023
San Diego, CA
Aug 4-7
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
May 26
Invited talk (Cogs 1)
San Diego, CA
Mar 24-26
Personal travel
Big Bear Lake, CA
Mar 1
2022
Dec 24-30
Personal travel
Orlando, FL
Nov 16
Invited talk (Cogs 1)
San Diego, CA
Oct 27-28
Invited talk at CMU’s HCI Seminar Series
Pittsburgh, PA
June 23-20
Personal travel
Honolulu, HA
2021
July 1-8
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
2020
Nov 28-30
Personal travel
Big Bear Lake, CA
June 2
May 15
Kick-off speaker for Design for San Diego
San Diego, CA
Feb 21-23
Personal travel
Los Angeles, CA
2019
Oct
NSF Panelist
Alexandria, VA
Aug 7-16
Personal travel
Anchorage, AK
Jul 16-18
Session speaker at MSR Summit
Redmond, WA
Jun 30 – Jul 5
Personal travel
Chicago, IL; South Haven, MI; Hudson, IA
Jun 23-28
Associate Co-chair of DIS 2019
San Diego, CA
Jun 23-26
Co-chair of C&C 2019
San Diego, CA
Jun 14
Invited talk, Collective Intelligence 2019
Pittsburgh, PA
May 31
Invited talk, American Academy of Arts and Sciences
San Diego, CA
Mar 26
Amy Cook thesis defense
Pittsburgh, PA
2018
Nov 7-16
Personal travel
Seville and Barcelona, Spain
Nov 3-5
CSCW 2018
Jersey City, NJ
Aug 30 – Sep 3
Personal travel
Big Sur and Yosemite, CA
Apr 30
Speaker at UCSD AI Seminar
San Diego, CA
2017
Nov 8
Invited speaker at U Washington DUB
Seattle, WA
Oct 25-27
Design Forward
San Diego, CA
Oct 24-26
Co-Chair for HCOMP 2017
Quebec City, QC
Sep 1-4
Personal travel
Denver, CO
Aug 3-7
Personal travel
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico
Jun 27-30
C&C 2017
Singapore
Jun 18-21
Invited speaker at Helsinki Institute of Technology / Aalto U
Helsinki, Finland
Jun 16-18
Personal travel
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Jun 13-15
Jun 12-13
HCOMP PC meeting
Brooklyn, NY
May 6-11
CHI 2017
Denver, CO
May 5
Invited speaker at Stanford HCI
Palo Alto, CA
May 1
Pao Siangliulue’s thesis defense
Harvard, MA
Mar 13-14
Invited speaker at Berkeley Institute of Design
Berkeley, CA
Feb 25-28
CSCW 2017
Portland, OR
Jan 2
Personal travel
Tijuana, Mexico
2016
Dec 8-12
CHI PC meeting
Denver, CO
Oct 27-28
Design Lab retreat
San Diego, CA
Oct 8-10
Personal travel
Atlanta, GA
Oct 7-8
CMU meetings
Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 22-24
Personal travel
Catalina Island, CA
Jul 25-27
Jul 13-17
Microsoft Summit
Redmond, WA
May 25
Speaker for Intro to CogSci class
San Diego, CA
May 7-12
CHI 2016
San Jose, CA
Mar 8
Speaker for Intro to CogSci class
San Diego, CA
Feb 27 – Mar 2
CSCW 2016
San Francisco
Feb 26-27
2015
Dec 25-31
Cross-country trip to start position at UC San Diego
Pittsburgh, PA; Des Moines, IA; Denver, CO; Phoenix, AZ; San Diego, CA
Dec 12-25
Personal travel
Shanghai, Nanjing, Xian; China
Dec 11-12
CHI PC meeting
San Jose, CA
Nov 7-11
HCOMP 2015
San Diego, CA
Oct 1-3
Design Lab retreat
Lake Arrowhead, CA
Sep 4-6
Urbandale High School reunion
Des Moines, IA
Jul 24-25
InGroup 2015
Pittsburgh, PA
Jul 17-19
Visiting UCSD Cog Sci
San Diego, CA
Jun 25 – Jul 9
Personal travel
Rome, Florence and Venice Italy
Jun 19-25
C&C 2015
Glasgow, Scotland
May
NSF Panel
Washington, DC
May 23-26
Personal travel
Denver, CO
May 3-5
HCOMP Institute
Washington, DC
Mar 12-18
CSCW 2015
Vancouver, BC
Mar 10-11
Speaker at UCSD Cog Sci
San Diego, CA
Feb 9-10
Speaker at UC Boulder CS
Boulder, CO
Jan 23
Speaker at Northwestern U Comm Studies
Evanston, IL
Jan 21
Speaker at U Pittsburgh CS Dept
Pittsburgh, PA
2014
Dec 14-18
Personal travel
Ft Lauderdale, FL
Dec 5-7
Personal travel
Philadelphia, PA
Nov 14-16
HCII 20-year event
Pittsburgh, PA
Nov 3-5
HCOMP 2014
Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 29-31
Personal travel
Toronto, ON
Aug 16-18
CSCW PC Meeting
Evanston, IL
Aug 6-15
Honeymoon
Maui, Hawaii
Aug 1-5
Our wedding
South Haven, MI
Jun 23-25
DIS 2014
Vancouver, BC
Jun 20-22
Personal travel
Denver, CO
Jun 18-20
HCOMP Visioning
Washington, DC
Jun 13-15
HCOMP PC Meeting
Boston, MA
May 24-26
Personal travel
New York, NY
May 2-8
Invited talk at University of Madeira
Madeira, Portugal
Apr 26-30
CHI 2014
Toronto, ON
Apr 19-20
Personal travel
South Haven, MI
Mar 29-31
Personal travel
Andrews, NC
Feb 15-19
CSCW 2014
Baltimore, MA
Jan 4-8
Personal travel
Tulum, Mexico
2013
Dec 6-9
CHI PC meeting
Toronto, ON
Nov 27-30
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
Nov 7-10
HCOMP 2013
Palm Springs, CA
Sep 21-23
Personal travel
Chicago, IL
Sep 7
Invited Speaker at Thrival Festival
Pittsburgh, PA
Aug 19-20
CSCW PC meeting
Philadelphia, PA
Aug 3-6
Personal travel
Montreal, QC
Jul 12
Invited speaker at Tsinghua University
Beijing, China
Jul 5-19
Personal travel
Shanghai, Nanjing, Beijing; China
Jun 26-27
NSF Workshop on Human Computation
Washington, DC
Jun 22-25
Personal travel
Chicago, IL
Jun 8-9
Personal travel
Leonard Lake, CA
Jun
NSF Panel
Washington, DC
May 27-30
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
May 24-27
Personal travel
New York, NY
May 10-15
Personal travel
Chicago, IL
Apr 26 – May 4
CHI 2013
Paris, France
Mar 13-17
Personal travel
Chicago, IL
Mar 9-13
Personal travel
Denver, CO
Mar 5-6
DARPA
Washington, DC
Feb 23-27
CSCW 2013
San Antonio, TX
Feb 7-10
Invited speaker at UC Berkeley EECS
Berkeley, CA
2012
Dec 14-26
Personal travel
San Juan, Puerto Rico
Dec 5-10
CHI PC meeting
Paris, France
Nov 14-15
Quirky.com headquarters
New York City, NY
Nov 2
Invited Speaker at MIT CSAIL
Boston, MA
Oct 27-30
Segal Design Institute at Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Oct 6-7
Personal travel
Chicago, IL
Aug 31 – Sep 3
Personal travel
New Orleans, LA
Aug 17-19
Personal travel
Chicago, IL
Aug 17
Segal Design Institute at Northwestern
Evanston, IL
Jul 15-18
MSR Faculty Summit
Redmond, WA
Jul 1-8
Personal travel
Silverthorne, CO
Jun 14-16
Personal travel
Cedar Falls, IA
May 19-21
Segal Design Institute at Northwestern
Evanston, IL
May 5-10
CHI 2012
Austin, TX
Mar 10-16
Personal travel
Florida
Mar 2-3
Invited speaker at U Iowa Computing Conference
Iowa City, IA
Feb 11
CSCW 2012
Seattle, WA
Feb
NSF Panel
Arlington, VA
Jan 10
2011
Dec 8-10
CHI PC meeting
Boston, MA
Nov 22-27
Personal travel
Cincinnati, OH
Nov 3-6
Oct 14-17
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
Oct 7
Invited talk at CMU Robotics Talk
Pittsburgh, PA
Sep 25-26
Invited speaker at UIUC’s CS Dept
Champaign, IL
Jul 17-30
Cross-country trip to start position at Carnegie Mellon
Palo Alto, CA; Des Moines, IA; Pittsburgh, PA
Jul 11-16
Personal travel
Sonoma, CA
Jun 26 – Jul 10
Personal travel
Greece
Jun 22-25
DPPI
Milan, Italy
Jun 11-14
HCIC
Pacific Grove, CA
Jun 11-14
CMU’s HCI Institute
Pittsburgh, PA
May 7-12
CHI 2011
Vancouver, BC
Apr 26
Invited speaker at Google Research
Mountain View, CA
Apr 14
Invited speaker at USC’s Interactive Media Division
Los Angeles, CA
Apr 13
Invited speaker at Nokia Research
Palo Alto, CA
Apr 5
CMU’s HCI Institute
Pittsburgh, PA
Mar 30
Invited speaker at UIPUI Informatics
Indianapolis, IN
Mar 24-25
Invited speaker at HCI at ISU
Ames, IA
Mar 15
Invited speaker at Accenture Labs
San Jose, CA
Feb 22-23
Invited speaker at Michigan’s School of Information
Ann Arbor, MI
Feb 15-17
Invited speaker at Georgia Tech’s GVU Center
Atlanta, GA
Feb 13-15
Invited speaker at McGill U
Montreal, QC
Feb 9-11
iConference
Seattle, WA
Feb 7-8
Invited speaker at Oregon State EECS
Corvallis, OR
Feb 1-3
Invited speaker at CMU’s HCI Institute
Pittsburgh, PA
Jan 28-31
Personal travel
Dillon, CO
Jan 23-25
Invited speaker at UC Merced Cog Sci
Merced, CA
Jan 19
Invited speaker at IBM Research
San Jose, CA
2010
Dec 24-26
Personal travel
Lake Tahoe, CA
Dec 15
Invited speaker at UW’s DUB Group
Seattle, WA
Dec 8-12
CHI PC meeting
College Park, MD
Nov 11
Invited speaker at Adobe Research
San Jose, CA
Nov 9
Invited speaker at Stanford’s Postdoc Symposium
Palo Alto, CA
Nov 8
Invited speaker at Michigan’s iSchool
Ann Arbor, MI
Nov 3-4
Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research workshop #6
Palo Alto, CA
Oct 22
IBM’s NPC
San Jose, CA
Oct 19
Oct 4
Demo at CrowdConf 2010
San Francisco, CA
Jul 20
Stanford MediaX
Palo Alto, CA
Jul 9
Invited speaker at HP Labs
Palo Alto, CA
Jun 17-20
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
Jun 3
Jun 1
Invited talk at Université de Paris-Sud and INRIA
Paris, France
May 28 – Jun 5
Visiting researcher at In Situ Lab
Paris, France
May 27
Invited speaker at HPI’s HCI Lab
Potsdam, Germany
May 24-28
Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program workshop #5
Potsdam, Germany
May 12
May 6
Apr 19-22
Invited speaker at Nokia Research
Santa Monica, CA
Apr 11-16
CHI 2010
Atlanta, GA
Apr 8
Invited talk at Willow Garage
Menlo Park, CA
Apr 6-7
Apr 5
Invited talk at UC Santa Cruz’s CSE Department
Santa Cruz, CA
Mar 21-24
Invited speaker at U Pittsburgh CS
Pittsburgh, PA
Mar 14-16
Mar 8
Mar 3-5
Invited speaker at PSU’s IST College
State College, PA
Feb 24-28
HCIC
Fraser, CO
Jan 15
Jan 7-11
Personal travel
Silverthorne, CO
2009
Dec 17-26
Personal travel
Atlanta, GA
Nov 24-27
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
Nov 19
Invited talk at Google Tech Talks
Mountain View, CA
Nov 10
Invited talk at Carnegie Mellon University’s Silicon Valley Campus
Mountain View, CA
Nov 4-6
Oct 27-30
Talk at ACM Creativity and Cognition (C&C 2009)
Berkeley, CA
Oct 16-19
Concordia Hackfest
Montreal, CAN
Aug 25
Jul 9-20
Personal travel
Cambridge, UK
Jul 15
Invited talk at Microsoft Research
Cambridge, UK
Jun 1-3
Apr 24-27
Personal travel
Houston, TX
Apr 4-9
CHI 2009
Boston, MA
Mar 27-29
Personal travel
Vegas, NV
Mar 18
Feb 13-16
Personal travel
Atlanta, GA
Feb 2-4
Jan 30
Jan 22
Invited talk at Nokia Research
Palo Alto, CA
2008
Dec 1-8
Talk at Advances in Computer Entertainment (ACE 2008)
Yokohama, Japan
Nov 18
Nov 6
Invited talk at Hasso Plattner Institute’s HCI Lab
Potsdam, Germany
Nov 5-7
Hasso Plattner Design Thinking Research Program workshop #1
Potsdam, Germany
Nov 4-6
Personal travel
Atlanta, GA
Oct 19-22
UIST 2008
Monterey, CA
Sept 23 – Oct 5
Cross-country trip to start postdoc at Stanford
Atlanta, GA; Cincinnati, OH; Pittsburgh, PA; South Haven, MI; Des Moines, IA;, Denver, CO; Zion National Park, UT; Vegas, NV; Palo Alto, CA
Sept 25-27
Talk at ICEC 2008
Pittsburgh, PA
April 5-10
Workshop paper at CHI 2008
Florence, Italy
2007
Nov 9
Nov 5-7
Demo at Virtual Reality Software and Technology (VRST 2007)
Newport Beach, CA
Oct 18-21
Personal travel
Baltimore, MA
Sep 22 – Dec 7
Aug 21-24
Aug 17
Invited talk at Creativity and Cognition Studios
Sydney, Australia
Aug 7-16
Invited talks at HIT Lab NZ at University of Canterbury
Christchurch, New Zealand
Jul 13
Jun 17 – Aug 7
Jun 13-15
Jun 8
Invited talk at Department of CS at Columbia University
New York City, NY
Apr 28 – May 3
Talk at CHI 2007
San Jose, CA
2006
Dec 15 – Jan 10, 2007
Personal travel
Cape Town, South Africa
Dec 3 – Dec 15
Personal travel
Zurich, Switzerland; Frankfurt, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; Karlskrona, Sweden
Dec 8
Invited talk at Literature, Culture & Digital Media at BTH
Karlskrona, Sweden
Dec 6
Invited talk at New Media Studies at Charles University
Prague, Czech Republic
Oct 19-23
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
Jun 26-28
Talk at Designing Interactive Systems (DIS 2006)
State College, PA
Jun 14-16
May 1
Invited talk at Fine Arts Cultural Studies at York University
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Apr 22-27
Attended CHI 2006
Montreal, QC, Canada
2005
July 10-19
Personal travel
Olympic National Park, WA; Victoria and Vancouver, BC, Canada
Jun 19-22
Personal travel
Barcelona, Spain
Jun 15-19
Talk at Advances in Computer Entertainment (ACE’05)
Valencia, Spain
Jun 2
Jun – Aug
Summer internship at Intel Research
Seattle, WA
Apr 2-7
Talk at CHI 2005
Portland, OR
2004
Dec 24-30
Personal travel
Des Moines, IA
Nov 2-5
Oct 24-27
Sept 10-16
Personal travel
Galway and Dublin, Ireland
Sept 7-10
Demo at UbiComp 2004
Nottingham, UK
Aug 13-15
Personal travel
Coventry, Vermont
June 5-9
Personal travel
Chicago, IL
2003
Oct 30 – Nov 4
Demo at UIST 2003
Vancouver, BC, Canada
Oct 21-23
Demo at ISWC 2003
White Plains, NY
Jun – Aug
Program manager internship at Microsoft
Seattle, WA
April 3-10
Attended CHI 2003
Fort Lauderdale, FL
2002
Aug 15
Moved to start Masters at Georgia Tech
Atlanta, GA
June-July
Personal travel
Chicago, IL; Atlanta, GA; New Orleans, LA; Truth or Consequences, MN; Flagstaff, AZ; Las Vegas, NV; Los Angeles, CA; Arcata, CA; Portland, OR; Boise, ID; Denver, CO; Des Moines, IA; Chicago, IL
2000
Jul 16-19
Personal travel
Red Rocks Amphitheater, CO
Jun 15
Move to start first job at Accenture
Chicago, IL
May 1-June 5
Backpacking in Africa
Dar es Salaam, Tanzania; Nairobi, Kenya; Zanzibar, Tanzania
Mar 23-May 1
Backpacking in Europe
London, UK; Berlin, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; Budapest, Hungary; Venice and Rome, Italy; Montpellier, France; San Sebastian and Barcelona, Spain; Interlaken, Switzerland; Paris, France; Amsterdam, Netherlands
1999
October 9-12
Phantom User Group workshop
Endicott House, Dedham MA
Sept 27 – Oct 1
1998
1997
Jul 19 – Aug 8
Part of GROK Lab support for Nomad robot ground mission
Santiago, Antifagasto, Vina Del Mar, and Valparaiso in Chile
Daily Update for July 31
Daily Update for July 21
June 18
1996
June – Aug
Staff at Philmont Scout Ranch
Cimarron, NM
1995
Aug
Move to college (from Des Moines)
Iowa City, IA