Kerstin Dautenhahn

Timeline

1. 1990–1993

   Bielefeld degrees

   She earns a diploma in biology at the University of Bielefeld in 1990 and a doctorate in natural sciences there in 1993.

2. 1993–1997

   Postdoctoral work on robots

   She researches at GMD from 1993 to 1996, then researches in Vrije Universiteit Brussel’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory before 1997. As a student, she studies computer science and AI alongside her biology and natural-sciences degrees. During postdoctoral work, she becomes fascinated by robots and teaches herself to build and program them.

3. 1997–2003

   From lecturer to professor

   She becomes a lecturer at Reading in 1997, moves to the University of Hertfordshire in 2000 and becomes a full professor there in 2003. In 2003, she publishes a paper that frames robots in autism therapy as therapeutic playmates, social mediators and model social agents.

4. 2005

   Developing the Kaspar robot

   In 2005, she leads the development of Kaspar, a minimally expressive humanoid robot that teaches children with autism about social interaction and communication.

5. 2018

   A Canada 150 chair

   She joins Waterloo as a Canada 150 Research Chair in 2018 and leads a multidisciplinary research program with collaborators across campus.

6. 2019

   An IEEE Fellowship

   She becomes an IEEE Fellow in 2019 for contributions to social robotics and human-robot interaction.

7. 2023

   A Royal Society of Canada fellowship

   She becomes a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2023.

8. As of October 2026

   Directing a Waterloo robotics lab

   As of October 2026, she is a professor in Waterloo’s Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, holds the Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in Socially Intelligent Robotics and directs the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory. Her research includes human-robot interaction, social robotics and assistive technology.