Bringing People Together Through Games and Play

Elaine M. Raybourn, Ph.D. is a Principal Member of the Technical Staff in Cognitive Science at Sandia National Laboratories and has designed computer games for cultural dynamics.

A member of the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge IPT since 2010, Elaine’s greatest passion is engendering intercultural communication and multicultural understanding for all, through the design of experiential and collaborative virtual environments, social simulations and games. Serving on the SGS&C IPT is one of the many ways she exercises her passion for bringing people together through games and play.

Elaine is on assignment to Advanced Distributed Learning Initiative, Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense (Force Readiness), where she leads research on transmedia learning, learner adaptability, and the anthropology of next generation learners’ interactions with personal assistants for learning (PAL).

She has worked on transmedia learning since 2010 and led the development of an award-winning Government game. She is an European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics (ERCIM ) Fellow, and has worked in research laboratories in Germany, England, and France.

Elaine also speaks regularly on the topic of transmedia learning, and she serves on several international journal editorial boards, as well as past service on the advisory board for the Game Developers Conference (GDC) Serious Games Summit from 2004-2007, GameTech Program Chair in 2011 and Program Chair Advisor 2012-14.

Elaine is a high sensation seeker and her favorite thing to do on and off the job is…grow.