Dr Stella Doukianou

Biography

Stella is a Senior Lecturer and Course Leader for the BSc Creative Computing programme at the Creative Computing Institute. In her role, she leads the course, focusing on building an interdisciplinary community of practitioners by incorporating innovative activities such as hackathons, design sprints, societies, and a buddy scheme.

With a background in engineering and a longstanding interest in digital media and computer science, Stella has spent over a decade exploring the convergence of technology and creativity. Her work centers on the intersection of community, game design, and XR, developing immersive experiences through collaborative co-design.

Before joining the Creative Computing Institute, Stella was a Lecturer in the Games Design and Development programme at the University of Greenwich, where she led modules in Game Development and Virtual Reality Principles. Prior to transitioning into academia, she worked in the IT sector in London as a Research Consultant, where she developed engaging games aimed at assessment and behavioural change.
Stella has also made significant contributions to several EU-funded projects under the FP7 and HORIZON frameworks, focusing on energy, culture, and IoT. Notable projects include OrbEEt and COSMOS, where she worked on gamification frameworks and serious games, and EMOTIVE, where she coordinated efforts to use AR and emotive storytelling to enhance audience engagement with heritage sites. She is currently working on Knowledge Exchange project, developing a serious game to destigmatise the refugee journey through immersive media.

Her academic credentials include an MSc in Design and Digital Media from the University of Edinburgh and a Ph.D. in Computer Science from Coventry University, which focused on data visualisation in games. Stella holds a SEDA certification for PhD supervision and is a Full Professional Member of the British Computer Society (MBCS), a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), and a member of the Computer Arts Society specialist interest group.