Cynthia Breazeal
Dr. Cynthia Breazeal is an associate professor of media arts and sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she founded and directs the Personal Robots Group at the media lab and is co-director of the Center for Future Storytelling. She is a pioneer of social robotics and Human Robot Interaction (HRI). Her research program focuses on developing personal robots and interactive characters that engage humans in human-centric terms, work with humans as partners, and learn from people via tutelage. More recent work investigates the impact of long-term HRI applied to entertainment, communication, quality of life, health and educational goals. She has authored the book "Designing Sociable Robots" and has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles in journals and conferences in autonomous robotics, artificial intelligence, human robot interaction, and robot learning. She has been awarded an ONR Young Investigator Award, honored as finalist in the National Design Awards in Communication, and recognized as a prominent young innovator by the National Academy of Engineering's Gilbreth Lecture Award. She received her Sc.D. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT in 2000.


