PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Guy Hoffman

Guy Hoffman is a robotics researcher whose work studies how autonomous robots interact with humans. He earned an M.Sc. in computer science at Tel Aviv University in 2000 and a Ph.D. in human-robot interaction at MIT in 2007; his thesis explored fluency and embodiment in human-robot interaction. AUR won the IEEE RO-MAN Gold Prize in 2007, and his 2012 article proposed embodied cognition for autonomous robots that interact with humans. At TEDxJaffa in October 2013, he showed two musical robots; he joined Cornell's Sibley School in January 2016 and coauthored YOLO, a social robot designed with children to support creativity, in 2017. By September 2026, he has introduced a machine-learning course for mechanical engineering undergraduates; as of October 2026, he is an associate professor and associate director of undergraduate affairs in Cornell's Sibley School and heads the HRC² Lab.

Works
210

Publication numbers from OpenAlex, as of 27 October 2026. Citations and h-index are hidden because this OpenAlex record may be incomplete or mix in other authors.

Timeline

  1. 2000–2007

    Degrees in computer science and HRI

    He earns an M.Sc. in computer science at Tel Aviv University in 2000 and a Ph.D. in human-robot interaction at MIT in 2007.

  2. 2007

    AUR and an IEEE design prize

    His 2007 MIT thesis explores fluency and embodiment in human-robot interaction. AUR is a robotic desk lamp and collaborative lighting assistant for fluent teamwork; in August 2007, it wins the Gold Prize in the IEEE RO-MAN 2007 Robot Design Competition.

  3. 2012

    Embodied cognition for robots

    In 2012, he proposes a modern embodied-cognition approach for autonomous robots interacting with humans.

  4. October 2013

    Musical robots at TEDxJaffa

    At TEDxJaffa in October 2013, he shows two musical robots that jam with humans.

  5. January 2016

    Joining Cornell's Sibley School

    He joins Cornell's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering in January 2016 after serving as an assistant professor at IDC Herzliya and co-director of the IDC Media Innovation Lab. Before Cornell, he is a research fellow at Georgia Tech and MIT.

  6. 2017

    YOLO for children's creativity

    In 2017, he coauthors YOLO, a social robot aimed at boosting children's creativity. The paper describes a social robot designed with children to support their creativity.

  7. December 2025

    Machine learning for engineers

    In December 2025, he develops an introduction to machine learning tailored to mechanical engineers. The course covers the mathematical theory of machine learning and training models for engineering tasks.

  8. As of October 2026

    Professor and HRC² lab head

    He is an associate professor and associate director of undergraduate affairs in Cornell's Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering. He heads the HRC² Lab, whose research spans computational, engineering, and social aspects of human-robot interaction and includes AI and machine learning for HRI. By September 2026, he has introduced a machine-learning course for mechanical engineering undergraduates.

Career

  1. NowCornell UniversityAssociate Professor, Head, HRC² Lab
  2. Reichman UniversityAssistant Professor, Co-Director, IDC Media Innovation Lab
  3. Georgia Institute of TechnologyResearch Fellow
  4. Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyResearch Fellow

Education

  1. 2007Massachusetts Institute of TechnologyPh.D.
  2. 2000Tel Aviv UniversityM.Sc.

From the biography.

Checked career sources: duffield.cornell.edu, news.cornell.edu, robotics.cornell.edu, hrc2.io.

Colleagues

People with dated positions at the same organization in the same years.

Sources and credits

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  1. Guy Hoffman | Cornell Duffield Engineering duffield.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  2. AUR – Personal Robots robots.media.mit.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  3. Publications – Hoffman Lab . . . HRC^2 sites.coecis.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  4. Guy Hoffman: Robots with "soul" | TED Talk ted.com. Checked 27 October 2026.
  5. Bringing AI into the mechanical engineering curriculum at Cornell duffield.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  6. Awards honor Duffield Engineering faculty for teaching, advising news.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  7. Guy Hoffman – Robotics @ Cornell robotics.cornell.edu. Checked 27 October 2026.
  8. HRC² Lab hrc2.io. Checked 27 October 2026.