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J.D. Lomas

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J.D. Lomas

PhD, MFA

 https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2329-7831

Personal profile

Research profile

J. Derek Lomas is a tenured professor of Positive AI at TU Delft's Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering. He directs the AI & Experience Design Lab in the Human-Centered Design department, and is a member of the Delft Institute of Positive Design. His research asks: how can AI systems be designed to actively support human wellbeing — not just avoid harm? Recent work spans large-scale wellbeing measurement (the My Wellness Check study of 20,000+ participants during COVID-19), aesthetic alignment between humans and generative AI, the role of resonance in human-AI interaction, and AI-assisted learning at scale (Smart Paper, deployed across 65,000 schools in India reaching 4.7M+ students). Derek is co-author of "The Harmony of Opposites in Design and Philosophy" (Bloomsbury, 2025) and previously co-founded Playpower Labs, NeuroUX, and Smart Paper — educational technology companies whose products have reached millions of learners. Full archive of press, talks, and projects: https://dereklomas.me

Research interests

  • Positive AI — designing AI systems for human wellbeing
  • AI for learning at scale
  • Aesthetic alignment of generative AI
  • Resonance in human-AI interaction
  • Empirical aesthetics & the Unified Model of Aesthetics
  • Educational data mining and large-scale design experiments
  • Harmony as a design principle
  • Human-centered AI in education and healthcare

Academic background

Derek joined TU Delft in 2017 after a postdoctoral fellowship at the UC San Diego Design Lab with Don Norman.
 
He completed his PhD in Human-Computer Interaction at Carnegie Mellon in 2014, advised by Ken Koedinger and Jodi Forlizzi, where his dissertation pioneered the use of large-scale experiments (70,000+ subjects) to optimize educational game design — work later recognized with an Honorable Mention at CHI 2017.
 
Earlier degrees include an MFA in Visual Arts (Computing and the Arts) from UC San Diego with Natalie Jeremijenko and Sheldon Brown (2009), and a BA in Cognitive Science from Yale (2003) where he was taught by Nick Bostrom and Robert Sternberg.
 
Before academia, Derek co-founded Playpower Labs (2008), a Techstars-backed educational technology company whose products have been used by millions of learners worldwide. He also co-founded NeuroUX, a remote cognitive testing platform used in clinical research, and Smart Paper, an offline-first assessment system for low-resource schools, now deployed across 65,000 schools in Rajasthan reaching 4.7M+ students (recognized by UNESCO in 2024).
 
At TU Delft, Derek directs the AI & Experience Design Lab and has supervised 50+ master's and bachelor's theses (full archive at https://dereklomas.me/research). He coordinates the Entrepreneurial Thinking course for the MSc Metropolitan Analysis, Design & Engineering (MADE) programme at the AMS Institute. He is from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, and lives in Amsterdam with his wife and four children.

Thematic collaboration

  • Delft Design for Values Institute

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  1. SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
    SDG 3 Good Health and Well-being
  2. SDG 4 - Quality Education
    SDG 4 Quality Education
  3. SDG 9 - Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
    SDG 9 Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure
  4. SDG 10 - Reduced Inequalities
    SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities
  5. SDG 17 - Partnerships for the Goals
    SDG 17 Partnerships for the Goals

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Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

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View all 64 research outputs

  • CHI 2017 Honorable Mention Award

    Lomas, J. D. (Recipient), May 2017

    Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)

  • 3 Talk or presentation at a workshop, seminar, course or other meeting
  • 1 Participation in conference