Chris Harrison, assistant professor in the Human-Computer Interaction Institute, accepted the A. Nico Habermann Career Development Professorship in Computer Science in a ceremony Nov. 13 in the Gates and Hillman centers' Raj Reddy Conference Room.

Established in 1998 in memory of A. Nico Habermann, founding dean of Carnegie Mellon University's School of Computer Science, the Habermann Chair is awarded every three years to a junior faculty member with exceptional promise.

Harrison directs the Future Interfaces Group, which explores alternatives to the keyboard and mouse people have long relied upon to control computers. Using combinations of sound, vision and other sensors, the lab enables people to control digital devices with their gaze, by gesturing, or by tapping on tables, walls or their own skin. These new input techniques add nuance and convenience to human-computer interaction, and are key to the expanding internet of things.

Harrison's work was recognized previously when he was named to 30 scientists under 30 by Forbes in 2011, 35 innovators under 35 by MIT Technology Review in 2012, and one of six innovators to watch by Smithsonian in 2013. He has received fellowships from Google, Microsoft Research and Qualcomm.

Harrison earned his bachelor's and master's degrees in computer science from New York University, and his Ph.D. in human-computer interaction from Carnegie Mellon. He joined the HCII faculty in 2014.