Dr Mahes Visvalingam

Mahes Visvalingam's use of computers began in 1971 while she was a PhD student at the University of Hull on a Commonwealth Scholarship. While she was a Research Fellow in the Census Research Unit of the University of Durham (1974 -1979), she originated the signed chi-square measure (Xs) for mapping, and co-authored the innovative People in Britain - a census atlas (HMSO, 1980). She continued her research interests in an honorary capacity at the University of Hull (1979 - 1985) where she investigated the utility of Xs as a social indicator, founded the multidisciplinary Cartographic Information Systems Research Group (CISRG) in 1985 and established research collaboration with the Ordnance Survey (GB) on Digital Topographic Mapping.

Mahes became a Lecturer in Computer Science in the University of Hull in 1986, where she is now a Reader in Digital Cartography. Her research interests include spatial reasoning, spatial data modelling, graphic abstraction and visual cognition. She is particularly interested in algorithms for emulating the skilled art of line generalisation and of artistic sketching of terrain. She has played an active part within the International Cartographic Association and the British Cartographic Society (BCS).