Avner is a doctoral researcher at the Department of Art and Media in Aalto University and a creative technologist. His research explores telerobotic puppetry as a medium for conflict resolution under Dr. Beatrice Hasler from Reichman University and Prof. Teemu Leinonen from Aalto University. Avner also works on immersive storytelling, contributing to stories in The New York Times as part of their R&D team. He has exhibited in international media art festivals such as Ars Electronica, IDFA Doclab, and RIXC.
Prof. Teemu Leinonen is the Vice-Rector for research at the University of Arts Helsinki and an Associate Professor of New Media Design and Learning at the Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture in Helsinki, Finland. As the Vice-Rector, he leads the development of Uniarts Helsinki’s research and doctoral education, and promotes the related national and international cooperation between various fields and stakeholders. He holds over two decades of experience in the field of research and development of web-based learning. In 1997–1998, he worked as a researcher in the Digital Media Institute at the Tampere University of Technology developing a learning environment for secondary education. Since 1998, he has led the Learning Environments’ research group of the Media Lab Helsinki at the Aalto University. He has served as a member of the program committee, reviewer, or jury member in over twenty international conferences and festivals. He is a well-known advocate of open source/free software in education, free knowledge, and open education. He has delivered several keynote and invited lectures at conferences on all six continents, except Antarctica. He has given in-service courses for teachers, and carried out consulting and concept design for schools, universities, and ICT and media companies.
