Colin Shewell

Overview

Dr Colin Shewell is an academic in the School of Computing at Ulster University’s Belfast campus and a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

His research focuses on the development of intelligent systems to support healthcare and independent living, combining wearable and pervasive computing with computer vision and artificial intelligence. He has a particular interest in how smart glasses, wearable cameras and environmental sensors can be used to understand human activities and provide timely, context-sensitive support.

His work explores activity recognition, behaviour modelling, and anomaly detection, with an emphasis on combining multiple sources of sensor data and reasoning under uncertainty. This includes investigating methods for recognising activities of daily living when observations are incomplete or ambiguous. His wider research interests include digital twins and personalised health companions, wearable technologies for nutritional monitoring, and the analysis of first-person video and audio to recognise and summarise events in emergency-care settings.

Colin’s teaching spans web development, programming and human–computer interaction, including user-centred design and the practical application of artificial intelligence. He supports students in connecting theoretical knowledge with the development of systems that address real-world needs.

As a Placement Coordinator for the School of Computing, Colin works with employers to develop placement opportunities and strengthen university–industry relationships. He also contributes to students’ academic and professional development through his role as a Studies Adviser.