Who is
this diva?
An expert consultant on the Steven Spielberg/Stanley Kubrick movie, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Dr. Cynthia Breazeal creates robots that can work with people and can learn new skills. Her work with robots has been featured in Time magazine, the New York Times newspaper and Scientific American magazine; filmed on national news programs across the country; and exhibited at a number of museums including the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum.
What
do you do at work?
There is no typical day for me. Most days, I do administrative work such as supervising students; teaching my classes; writing grant proposals to fund my research; and publishing articles about my research.
I also spend a great deal of time doing research. That includes reading what others have written about robots and robot research; thinking about my own ideas about robots; writing computer code and testing out my ideas; building robots; and figuring out how to evaluate the robots my team and I have created.
How does your job help other people?
My job helps people through education and my research into robots. There are many exciting future applications for robots. Someday, robots may act as teachers, helpers and companions for humans and be as normal to everyday living as an automobile is today.
But, in order for robots to do this, they need to be able to learn quickly, cooperate with people and be able to communicate in a way that is natural and intuitive for people. My research focuses on social interaction and socially situated learning between people and life-like robots. All of us in robotics are working to develop a science of human-robot collaboration.
Do you work alone or with
a team?
I spend most of my time working collaboratively with my students, with other professors and with researchers at other colleges and universities. My team is working on many projects, and we meet regularly to coordinate our timelines and work schedules.
What's
the best part of your job?
The work is hard and I put in long hours. In fact, I feel sometimes as if I am working all the time. But, when I think about it, I realize that my team and I are trying to change the world, so it's okay.
I really enjoy working with my students, and I love the work itself. Researching, pushing the envelope of knowledge, that's what I've always wanted to do.
What's
the worst part of your job?
The hardest part of my job is finding funding to continue my team's research on robotics. It can be stressful to write grants because of the amount of time they take and their strict deadlines.
Where
do you see yourself in 10 years?
In ten years, I'd like to be doing just exactly what I'm doing now but maybe on a bigger scale. I love the fact that there are always new questions, that robotics is always changing and that I can always look forward to the next day, the next project, the next year. It's exciting.
What
do you do when you're not at work?
Right now I'm moving, and I'm about to have a baby. When I'm not doing those two things, I'm big into sports.
I'm married, and we're expecting our first child.
What advice would you give
a girl about the I.T. field?
There are tremendous opportunities for women to make a difference in technology, to change the world. Girls need to seriously consider going into science, engineering and technology fields.
What
were your hobbies when you were 11-14?
When I was 11 to 14, I was very athletic, and I loved sports. I played tennis, ran on the track team and competed in swimming.
Describe technology you
wish was available now.
I would love to have a very small,
very lightweight, long-term power source. Robots run out
of juice very quickly.
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