Speakers

Maja Mataric, PhD
Director
Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems
Senior Associate Dean for Research
Viterbi School of Engineering
University of Southern California

Maja Mataric' is a professor of Computer Science and Neuroscience at the University of Southern California, founding director of the USC Center for Robotics and Embedded Systems (cres.usc.edu), co-director of the USC Robotics Research Lab (robotics.usc.edu) and Senior Associate Dean for Research in the USC Viterbi School of Engineering. She also recently served as the elected president of the USC faculty and the Academic Senate.

She received her PhD in Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence from MIT in 1994, MS in Computer Science from MIT in 1990, and BS in Computer Science from the University of Kansas in 1987. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and recipient of the Okawa Foundation Award, NSF Career Award, the MIT TR100 Innovation Award, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Career Award, the USC Viterbi School of Engineering Service Award and Junior Research Award, the Provost's Center for Interdisciplinary Research Fellowship, and is featured in the science documentary movie "Me & Isaac Newton." Prof. Mataric' is an associate editor of three major journals and has published extensively in various areas of robotics. She serves on a number of advisory boards, including the the Department of Commerce Emerging Technology and Research Advisory Committee, the National Sceince Foundation Computing and Information Sciences and Engineering (CISE) Division Advisory Committee, and the Evolution Robotics Scientific Advisory Board.

Prof. Mataric' is actively involved in K-12 educational outreach, having obtained federal and corporate grants to develop free open-source curricular materials for elementary and middle-school robotics courses in order to engage student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) topics. Her Interaction Lab's research into socially assistive robotics is aimed at endowing robots with the ability to help people through individual assistance (for convalescence, rehabilitation, training, and education) and team cooperation (for habitat monitoring and emergency response). Her current research is developing robot-assisted therapies for children with autism spectrum disorders, stroke survivors, and individuals with Alzheimer's Disease and other forms of dementia. Details about her research are found at http://robotics.usc.edu/interaction/.