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Dan Pittman
Associate Professor of Computer Sciences
Computer Sciences
[email protected]Office Hours
By Appointment
Biography
I am an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Metropolitan State University of Denver and a Partner and Chief Scientist at Pittmo LLC. I have over 17 years of experience in software engineering, and my research focuses on human-centered AI, HCI, cybersecurity, and impactful interdisciplinary research.Research Interests
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My research interests lie at the intersection of Human-Computer Interaction (HCI), Human-Robot Interaction (HRI), machine learning, and cybersecurity. I am particularly focused on Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HCAI), aiming to bridge the gap between humans and machines by developing intelligent systems that understand human perceptions and interactions. My work includes applying these technologies to societal challenges, such as mental health and sustainability, through interdisciplinary collaboration.
Teaching Interests
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My teaching philosophy centers on fostering creativity, innovation, and practical skills, preparing students for successful careers in technology. I emphasize real-world applications, interdisciplinary learning, and ethical considerations in courses like HCI, AI, cybersecurity, and software development. I aim to create an inclusive and engaging learning environment that encourages students to apply theoretical knowledge through hands-on projects, often reflecting the complexities they will face in the industry.
Education
PhD in Computer Science
University of Denver
MS in Computer Science
University of Denver
BS in Computer Science
University of West Florida
Personal Website
Published Works
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Chin, H. J., Haring, S. K., Pittman, E. D., Kim, P. (2026). Empathy-Related Individual Differences in Brain Responses to Robot and Human Pain. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience (Research Topic: Women in Interacting Minds and Brains II), 20805177. .
Pittman, E. D., Farchione, L. (2026). discord-email-verification: Open-Source Discord Verification Bot. 海角直播 Denver / CyberBridge (MIT-licensed open source),
Mahoor, H. M., Chileshe, L., Abdollahi, H., Melgar-Donis, S., Paredes, D., Pittman, E. D., Emamian, S. E. . A Multimodal Artificial Emotional Intelligence Framework for Longitudinal Socially Assistive Robotics. [Manuscript in preparation]. IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computational Intelligence (TETCI).
Pittman, D., Williams, A., Haring, K., Salo, J., Newman, G., Kennedy, A., Newman, S., Kalevela, S. (2025). Co-Creating a Regional Sustainability Hub: Conversational AI, Community Engagement, and Local Data for Computing in Place. ACM,
Pittman, E. D., Ball, M., Shockey, K., Chileshe, L., Dougherty, J., Williams, A. (2025). bili-core (BiliCore): Open-Source LLM Application Framework. 海角直播 Denver Community-Centered Computing (C3) Lab (MIT-licensed open source),
Pittman, D., Haring, K., GauthierDickey, C. (2023, December). Leveraging Multi-User Dungeons for Ethical AI Decision Support Systems: A Novel Approach. 2023 AHFE International Conference on Human Factors in Design, Engineering, and Computing.
Mahoor, M., Abdollahi, H., Melgar Donis, S., Chileshe, L., Pittman, D., Emamian, E. (2023). Poster: Robot-Administered Serious Brain Games for Older Adults with Mild Cognitive Impairment or early-stage Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease: A Pilot Study. Alzheimer's & Dementia庐,
Pittman, E. D. (2023). Sustainability Hub Web Platform and Bili Chatbot. 海角直播 Denver Community-Centered Computing (C3) Lab (NSF-funded),
Laity, W., Mamo, R., Dossett, B., Toczek, M., Sinclair, J., Train, N., Pittman, D., Haring, S. K. (2023). Assessing a Virtual Platform鈥檚 Effectiveness in Exploring Mental Models of Robot Design. 2023 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN),
Dossett, B., Laity, W., Toczek, M., Mamo, R., Sinclair, J., Train, N., Pittman, D., Haring, S. K. (2023). Evaluating the Effectiveness of Iconography for Representing Robot Mental States in the Build-A-Bot Platform. 2023 32nd IEEE International Conference on Robot and Human Interactive Communication (RO-MAN),
Das, S., Pittman, D., Haring, K. . Workshop: Secure Virtual Reality Classrooms: Enhancing Online Learning Through User-Centered Design and Evaluation. NSF/SaTC Aspiring PI Workshop,
Dossett, B., Pittman, D., Haring, S. K. (2023). Poster: Exploring Augmented Reality Robot Design. ICRA 2023 Late Breaking Poster,
Laity, W., Pittman, D., Haring, K. (2023). Poster: How to Facilitate Human to Robot Emotional Bonds. ICRA 2023 Late Breaking Poster,
Haring, K., Kim, P., Pittman, D. (2023). Workshop: Explainable Robot Design Based on a Robot Theory of Mind: A Web-Based Platform to systematically evaluate Robot Designs. ICRA 2023 Workshop: Explainable Robotics,
Doherty, J. E., Spencer, A. C., Burnison, J., 膶eko, M., Chin, J., Eloy, L., Haring, S. K., Kim, P., Pittman, D., Powers, S., Pugh, L. S., Roumis, D., Stephens, A. J., Yeh, T., Hirshfield, L. (2023). Interdisciplinary views of fNIRS: Current advancements, equity challenges, and an agenda for future needs of a diverse fNIRS research community. Frontiers in Integrative Neuroscience, 17059679. .
Laity, W., Dossett, B., Mamo, R., Pittman, D., Haring, S. K. (2022). Active participatory social robot design using mind perception attributes. Social Robotics 鈥� 14th International Conference, ICSR 2022 (Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 13818),
Haring, S. K., Pittman, E. D., Dossett, B. (2022). Workshop: A human-centered approach to evaluating robot theory of mind (RToM). RSS 2022 Workshop on Social Intelligence in Humans and Robots,
Famula, J., Pittman, E. D., Haring, S. K. (2022). Building trust with a mobile application for last-mile commercial drone delivery. 2022 International Conference on Unmanned Aircraft Systems (ICUAS),
Reddington, V., Haring, S. K., Das, S., Pittman, E. D. (2022). Workshop: Development and Evaluation of Virtual Reality Classrooms Through User-Centered Design During COVID-19. CHI 2022: 1st Workshop on Novel Challenges of Safety, Security and Privacy in Extended Reality,
Pittman, E. D., Haring, S. K., Kim, P., Dossett, B., Ehman, G., Gutierrez-Gutierrez, E., Patil, S., Sanchez, A. (2022). A novel online robot design research platform to determine robot mind perception. ACM/IEEE International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (2022),
Pittman, E. D. (2021). Review of DevOps Tools for Java Developers (Chin, Sadogursky & McKay). O'Reilly Media,
Pittman, E. D., GauthierDickey, C. (2013). Match+Guardian: A Secure Peer-to-Peer Trading Card Game Protocol. Multimedia Systems, 19(3), 303-314. .
Pittman, E. D., GauthierDickey, C. (2011, October (4th Quarter/Autumn)). Cheat-proof peer-to-peer trading card games. 2011 10th Annual Workshop on Network and Systems Support for Games (NetGames).
Pittman, E. D., GauthierDickey, C. (2010, January (1st Quarter/Winter)). Characterizing virtual populations in massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Advances in Multimedia Modeling 鈥� 16th International Multimedia Modeling Conference, MMM 2010 (Springer Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol. 5916).
Pittman, D., GauthierDickey, C. (2007). A measurement study of virtual populations in massively multiplayer online games. Proceedings of the 6th ACM SIGCOMM Workshop on Network and System Support for Games (NetGames 2007),
Albow, M., Depper, B., Fajardo, R., Fishburn, J., Fredericks, M., Harrington, C., Hawyrlak, J., Lara, C., Leutenegger, S., Pittman, D., Schutz, P. (2006, October (4th Quarter/Autumn)). Squeezed: A socially conscious migrant farm worker first-person picker. FuturePlay 2006 鈥� International Academic Conference on the Future of Game Design and Technology.
Pittman, D., Edwards, D. (2005). Space and Time Efficient Lottery Scheduling. Proceedings of the 2005 International Conference on Computer Design, CDES 2005.