Keynote Speakers

Brian Scassellati (Yale University, USA) – Yale University Social Robotics Lab

Title of the talk: "The Science (and missing Science) behind Socially Assistive Robotics" 

Brian Scassellati is a Professor of Computer Science, Cognitive Science, and Mechanical Engineering at Yale University and Director of the NSF Expedition on Socially Assistive Robotics. His research focuses on building embodied computational models of human social behavior, especially the developmental progression of early social skills. Using computational modeling and socially interactive robots, his research evaluates models of how infants acquire social skills and assists in the diagnosis and quantification of disorders of social development (such as autism). His other interests include humanoid robots, human-robot interaction, artificial intelligence, machine perception, and social learning. 

Dr. Scassellati received his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2001. His dissertation work (Foundations for a Theory of Mind for a Humanoid Robot) with Rodney Brooks used models drawn from developmental psychology to build a primitive system for allowing robots to understand people. His work at MIT focused mainly on two well-known humanoid robots named Cog and Kismet. He also holds a Master of Engineering in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (1995), and Bachelors degrees in Computer Science and Electrical Engineering (1995) and Brain and Cognitive Science (1995), all from MIT.

Dr. Scassellati’s research in social robotics and assistive robotics has been recognized within the robotics community, the cognitive science community, and the broader scientific community. He was named an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow in 2007 and received an NSF CAREER award in 2003. His work has been awarded five best-paper awards. He was the chairman of the IEEE Autonomous Mental Development Technical Committee from 2006 to 2007, the program chair of the IEEE International Conference on Development and Learning (ICDL) in both 2007 and 2008, the program chair for the IEEE/ACM International Conference on Human-Robot Interaction (HRI) in 2009, and chair of the Annual Meeting of the Cognitive Science Society in 2014.

Maja Matarić (USC Viterbi School of Engineering, USA) – USC Interaction Lab

Title of the talk: "SAR@almost25: how far we have come and what the key next steps are for SAR"

Maja Matarić is the Chan Soon-Shiong Chair and Distinguished Professor of Computer Science, with appointments in Neuroscience, and Pediatrics at the University of Southern California (USC), and a Principal Scientist at Google DeepMind. She is the founding director of the USC Robotics and Autonomous Systems Center (rasc.usc.edu), co-director of the USC Robotics Research Lab, past interim Vice President of Research (Jan 2020-Jul 2021), past Vice Dean for Research (Jul 2006-Dec 2019), and past President of the USC faculty and the Academic Senate (2005-06). 

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 member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AMACAD), Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), IEEE, AAAI, and ACM, and recipient of the US Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring (PAESMEM) from President Obama. She also received the Okawa Foundation, NSF Career, the MIT TR35 Innovation, the IEEE Robotics and Automation Society Early Career, and the Anita Borg Institute Women of Vision Innovation Awards. Within USC, she received the Provost's Mentoring Award, the Viterbi John O'Brien Service Award, the Viterbi School Service Award, and the Viterbi Junior Research Awards. She is featured in the documentary movie "Me & Isaac Newton." One of the most highly cited researchers (Google Scholar profile), she has published extensively, and is an advisory editor of three major journals. Prof. Matarić has lead many efforts in K-12 STEM outreach, including founding and leading the USC Viterbi K-12 STEM Center , developing free curricular materials for elementary and middle-school robotics courses, and co-leading two consecutive NSF Research Experience for Teachers sites for over a decade. 

A pioneer of the field of socially assistive robotics, her Interaction Lab's research is aimed at endowing machines with the ability to provide users with personalized motivation and support to empower them to reach their potential. Her lab's research focuses on users with differences, including children on the autism spectrum, stroke patients, dementia patients, and students and adults with anxiety or depression, among others. To learn more about this research, visit the USC Interaction Lab web site and Prof. Matarić's web site.