Dr. Casper Harteveld is Professor of Game Design and Associate Dean of Graduate Programs and Strategic Initiatives at Northeastern University’s College of Arts, Media & Design (CAMD). With over 150 peer-reviewed publications, including 18 full papers at the prestigious CHI conference, and $15 million in research funding, he has pioneered the design and integration of games, gamification, and extended reality (XR) technologies to address critical societal challenges in education, health, and sustainability.
Distinguished by his interdisciplinary, exploratory design-based approach, Dr. Harteveld creates, deploys, and rigorously evaluates games, gamification, and extended reality (XR) systems in real-world settings. The unique combination of creative practice with rigorous research has established him as a leader in serious game design.
His research is supported by 13 grants from NSF (5 as PI), and funding from ONR, DARPA, EPA, and Legal Services Corporation. He has received numerous accolades, including DARPA’s Young Faculty Award, the Young Talent Prize of Information Systems, Special Prize for Best Dissertation in Simulation & Gaming, CAMD’s Excellence in Research and Creativity Award, and 16 best/honorable paper recognitions in prestigious venues for games and human-computer interaction.
He directs Ghostlab, an interdisciplinary research lab leveraging design, engineering, computer science, and social science to address societal challenges through creative technologies. The lab (as of Fall 2025) includes two research professors, 16 PhD students, five staff members, and several master’s and undergraduate researchers. He is further the founding director of EXCITE, the institute for experiential technologies.
Dr. Harteveld earned his PhD, MS, and BS in Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis & Management from Delft University of Technology, along with a BS in Psychology from Leiden University. He holds appointments in the Department of Art+Design and affiliated positions across Computer Science, Electrical & Computer Engineering, Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, and the School of Law.
Research/Publications Highlights
Departments
Art + Design, Center for Design, Dean's Office
Education
- PhD, Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis & Management, Delft University of Technology
- MS, Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis & Management, Delft University of Technology
- BS, Systems Engineering, Policy Analysis & Management, Delft University of Technology
- BS, Psychology, Leiden University
Awards
- Excellence in Research and Creative Activity Award at the College of Arts, Media & Design
- DARPA Young Faculty Award
- Best Dissertation Award on Simulation & Gaming presented by SAGSAGA
- Best Master Thesis Award on Information Systems by the Royal Holland Society of Sciences and Humanities
Research Focus
- Game Design
- Serious Games
- Game-Based Learning
- Extended Reality
- Human-AI Interaction
- Human-Computer Interaction
Courses Taught
- Usability and Empirical User Research
- Game User Research
- Intro to Game Research Methods
- Foundations of Game Design
- Game Interface Design
