As a Professor of Games Science, his research interests include the application and impact of game science (applied games, serious games, gamification, game-based learning, game design thinking, playful learning) in teaching and learning, and other domains. To date Sylvester has over 90 academic publications, including one edited book- Serious Games for Healthcare. He has also keynoted at events related to serious games, gamification and technology-enhanced learning. He is a founding member of the Serious Games Society (seriousgamessociety.org/). Sylvester has also co-founded the GameChangers initative (http://gamify.org.uk) on game design thinking and playful learning that has produced open game-based learning resources and methodologies, which has been adapted and adopted by others in other countries, including France and Malaysia.

To date, Sylvester has successfully won projects with a total value of £19 million since 2010 including FP7, H2020, Erasmus+, NEWTON and HEFCE. He has coordinated and led the Beaconing project  (beaconing.eu) funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No 687676 (€5.9 million, 15 partners, 3 years), HEFCE funded Mobile GameChangers and NEWTON (AHRC + MoHE) CreativeCulture project. Other projects include EU H2020 Crowd4Roads project, H2020 Bond project, the Erasmus+ Playing4Real project and Eramus+ Cultural Risks project. He was also named as a co-investigator on the EU Funded PEGASO and MAGELLAN projects.

He has previously coordinated the R&D work package of the EU FP7 Games and Learning Alliance (GALA) as a Scientific Coordinator- a network of 31 partners across Europe. He has also project managed various development projects, such as the development of the £70K 'PR:EPARe' game, which won the Outstanding Contribution to Health Psychology award in 2013 and 'Imparapp' - pervasive gaming for language learning. Other awards include the Research Collaboration Fellowship to Boston in 2015, Prime Minister’s Initiative Partnership Development Grant for UK/ASIA in 2010 and the EU Transversal Programme Study Visit fund in 2011.

Sylvester was previously a Reader and Senior Research Fellow at the DMLL, Senior Researcher at the Serious Games Institute, UK, a Research Fellow at University of Warwick’s WMG and a lecturer at Universiti Malaysia Sarawak. He graduated with a PhD in Engineering in 2009 at University of Warwick.  

Games Science (gameful/playful design, serious games, game-based learning, gamification, game design thinking); Hybrid learning spaces; Technology-enhanced learning; Pervasive learning and technologies; Trans-disciplinary game-based intervention development; Multi-modal platforms (tactile, wearable, mobile, mixed-reality)

A champion of gameful, playful and persuasive designs that transform ordinary tasks into extraordinary experiences. My research interests are inspired by the potential of game techniques and technologies in sustaining engagement with serious activities, and to inform the design of experiences. My research focus is influenced by a a hybrid approach for holistically define, design and implement game-based interventions, including the blending of physical and digital spaces, and formal and informal contexts. I have developed a trans-disciplinary and holistic model for game-based design and development that can be adopted by researchers, designers and developers. My research findings will feed into a book on Game Science that I am writing and will be published by 2020.