Derek Lomas is a tenured professor of Positive AI at TU Delft, working on bridging Human-Centered Design and Artificial Intelligence.

I am a tenured professor of “Positive AI” at the department of Industrial Design at the Delft University of Technology. As a member of the Delft Institute for Positive Design and the AI and Experience Design Lab, I seek to connect positive psychology with AI system design. I like to work on projects that aim to enhance human learning, wellbeing and beauty. Originally from Chagrin Falls, Ohio, I now live in Amsterdam with my wife and four children.

Prior to TU Delft, I was a postdoctoral Design Fellow in the Design Lab at UC San Diego, mentored by Don Norman. At the Carnegie Mellon University Human-Computer Interaction Institute, my PhD thesis described the data-driven optimization of learning and enjoyment in education games. I received an MFA in Visual Art from UC San Diego and a BA in Cognitive Science at Yale University.

I have expertise in designing learning software based on cognitive science. I am the cofounder of Playpower Labs, Inc, which has produced software used by millions of learners. I am also the cofounder of NeuroUX, which creates gamified cognitive assessments to support remote mental health research. My latest venture is Smart Paper, which uses computer vision to enhance traditional paper-based learning experiences in India.

I’m also fascinated by classical philosophy, particularly in the Pythagorean tradition. I recently published a comprehensive review of the concept of Harmony in Design. Our interdisciplinary inquiry recognizes harmony as a core human goal: not only in aesthetic harmony, but harmony in the mind, harmony in relationships, and harmony with nature. Harmony points to a “wisdom in music” —wisdom that is admittedly difficult to articulate in words yet nevertheless plays a major role in human experiences. This work was extended in another paper on the role of resonance as a strategy for design.