Gary Burnett has recently (from August 2023) been appointed as a Professor in Digital Creativity in the School of Design and Creative Arts at Loughborough University. Previously, he was a Professor in Human Factors at the University of Nottingham and head of the Human Factors Research Group. He is an experienced lecturer who teaches and conducts research in the area of Human Factors and Human-Computer Interaction. For several years, he has taught hundreds of students on the use of new immersive technologies in design – and, recently has pioneered the use of social VR as means to engage more with students represented as avatars over extended periods in persistent and fantastical virtual worlds.