Research Team

Since August 2018 Kerstin Dautenhahn has been Canada 150 Research Chair in Intelligent Robotics at University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada. She has a joint appointment in the Departments of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Systems Design Engineering and is cross-appointed with the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science at University of Waterloo. She is Visiting Professor at the University of Hertfordshire, UK. At Waterloo, she is director of the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory (SIRRL). The main areas of her research are Human-Robot Interaction, Social Robotics, Assistive Technology and Artificial Life.

Chrystopher Nehaniv is a Mathematician, Computer Scientist, Complex Adaptive Systems Researcher, and, since August 2018, Full Professor in the Departments of Systems Design Engineering and of Electrical & Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada.

Moojan Ghafurian is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Systems Design Engineering at the University of Waterloo. Prior to joining SYDE, she was a Research Assistant Professor at the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering (2020-2023) and the Inaugural Wes Graham postdoctoral fellow at the David R. Cheriton School of Computer Science (2018-2020) at the University of Waterloo. She got her PhD from the Pennsylvania State University in 2017, and her research interests and background are in human-computer/robot interaction, social robotics, affective computing, and cognitive science. Her research explores computational models of how humans interact with computers to inform user-centered design of socially and emotionally intelligent technologies in multiple domains, especially in healthcare and for supporting older adults, persons with dementia, and caregivers.

My research goal is to develop autonomous robots that can assist people in their daily lives. Towards this goal, I develop cognitively-inspired computational models that can allow robots to continually adapt over their lifetime. I am also interested in using intrinsic motivations to allow robots to learn from limited human interactions.

I am a postdoctoral fellow in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. I'm interested in applying intelligent assistive technologies to health issues.

My research interests are in the area of machine learning, control, and robotics. Now, I am working on planning and decision making in human-robot interaction.

Email: a2noormo@uwaterloo.ca
Location:E7 5406
Research Interests: Machine Learning, Robotics

I am a PhD student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. My research interests are mostly in the area of developing social and intelligent robots.

I am a PhD student at the System Design Engineering Department in both SIRRL and SHEVS Lab. The focus of my research is on socially compliant mobile robots that can navigate in pedestrian-rich environments.

My research focuses on the creation of visual capabilities for robotic platforms. Previously I have investigated anthropomorphic visual systems. Currently, I am exploring cognitive architectures that could enable robotic platforms with making memory informed vision-dominant decisions.

I am a PhD student in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department. My research focuses on enhancing socially intelligent agents by making them more empathic, sensitive and interactive. I am interested in creating robots that can assist individuals with their mental health, through dialogue, understanding, and companionship.

I am currently pursuing my PhD in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. My primary research focus lies in utilizing robots to assist children facing various challenges, such as autism or domestic issues.

I am a research assistant in Electrical and Computer Engineering. My research focuses on using robots as assistive tools for children with special needs.

I am a research assistant at SIRRL, in the Department of Electrical and Computer engineering at the University of Waterloo. I am interested in working on cognitive architectures, and robot behaviour adaptation in human-robot interaction. I am especially interested in contextual memory and memory visualization.

I am a MASc student (Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence) in the Department of Electrical and Computer engineering at the University of Waterloo. I will be working on ML techniques for speech and language therapy.

I am a MASc student specializing in Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. I hope to bring some new insights to the world of Social and Intelligent Robotics. I am particularly excited about the recent advancements in AI that will help us attain these Social objectives more and more autonomously.

I am a recent Mechatronics graduate from Ain Shams University in Egypt. With a passion for robotics, humanoids, and human-robot interactions, I have embarked on a new academic journey by joining the Spring 2023 semester for a Master of Applied Science (MASc) program.

I am a MASc student in the Department of Systems Design Engineering. I am currently researching the personalization of social robot behaviours in healthcare situations, specifically understanding how a robot's personality can impact the user experience.

I am a MASc student following the Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence specialization in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo. I will be working on the improvement of a social robot as a public speaking rehearsal coach.

Michele Boldo is a Visiting PhD Student at the University of Waterloo, in the SIRRL Lab. He is currently working toward the PhD degree with the Department of Computer Science at the University of Verona in Italy. His research focuses on developing efficient human pose estimation models for remote monitoring and motion analysis. Additionally, his work involves EDGE AI and the optimization of embedded software for edge computing.

I am a third-year Mechatronics Engineering student working as an Undergraduate Research Assistant at SIRRL. I am interested in humanoid robotics, human-computer interactions and developing robotics for human assistance. I will be working with the Fetch robot using ROS to autonomously path plan.