PeopleofSuperintelligence

Researcher

Maya Cakmak

Also known as M. Cakmak

Maya Cakmak is a robotics researcher whose work helps people program robots for useful tasks, including assistive tasks at home. Born in Belgium and raised in Turkey, she studied engineering at METU, earned a robotics Ph.D. at Georgia Tech, and joined the University of Washington faculty in 2013. RoboFlow and Code3 brought visual, end-user programming to mobile robots, and she won an NSF CAREER Award and a Sloan Research Fellowship. Her research includes assistive robot deployments at home and a 2026 discussion about personal robots; she is a full professor at UW and directs the Human-Centered Robotics Lab.

Badges

Timeline

  1. By 2012

    Engineering and robotics at Georgia Tech

    Born in Belgium and raised in Turkey, she earns electrical and electronics engineering and computer engineering degrees at Middle East Technical University, where she starts robotics research at the Kovan Lab. A senior capstone project involving a robot that climbs stairs taller than itself deepens her interest in robotics. In 2012, she completes a robotics Ph.D. at Georgia Tech after five years at its Socially Intelligent Machines Lab.

  2. 2013

    Joining UW CSE

    After a year as a postdoctoral research fellow at Willow Garage, she joins the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School CSE faculty in 2013. Her research develops interaction mechanisms, learning algorithms and interfaces that help non-experts program personal robots by demonstration.

  3. 2015–2017

    RoboFlow and Code3

    At ICRA 2015, she presents RoboFlow, a flow-based visual language that lets users edit robot programs with loops, branches and error handling. In 2017, she coauthors Code3, which integrates perception, manipulation through demonstration and drag-and-drop task programming for mobile robots.

  4. 2016

    An NSF CAREER Award

    In 2016, she receives an NSF CAREER Award for end-user programming of general-purpose robots. The project supports methods that help people with diverse abilities program assistive robots in their own settings.

  5. 2018

    A Sloan Research Fellowship

    In 2018, she earns a Sloan Research Fellowship for work on general-purpose robots that users can program, including systems for people with motor impairments and older adults who wish to age in place.

  6. 2021–2023

    Deploying Stretch at home

    Her team runs a four-week in-home Stretch deployment in Summer 2021 to support everyday assistive tasks. In Summer 2022, a prototype end-user programming tool helps the user perform some tasks more efficiently, and a third deployment in Summer 2023 expands the tasks the robot can support.

  7. 2026

    A discussion of personal robots

    In February 2026, she joins a UW Tech Policy Lab conversation about robots as gatekeepers to intimate routines and confidential secrets.

  8. Since September 2024

    Full professor and lab director

    In September 2024, she becomes a full professor at the University of Washington’s Paul G. Allen School. She directs the Human-Centered Robotics Lab and focuses on human-robot interaction, end-user programming and assistive robotics.

Career

  1. Since 2013University of WashingtonFaculty, Full Professor
  2. Until 2013Willow GaragePostdoctoral Research Fellow
  3. Until 2012Georgia Institute of TechnologyResearcher
  4. Middle East Technical UniversityResearcher

Education

  1. 2012Georgia Institute of TechnologyPh.D.
  2. Middle East Technical University

From the biography.

  1. The company share of AI researchers’ top papers was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974Includes University of Washington. We estimate where the people shaping AI worked when their most-cited papers appeared: the company share was 31% in 2020–2024 and 8% in 1970–1974, and Google led all organizations in 2020–2024.
  2. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labsIncludes University of Washington. The median h-index is 48 at universities and 14 at frontier AI labs. We compare publishing careers, recent citations, dual appointments and job moves across 2,420 university researchers and 308 frontier-lab researchers.
  3. Of 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google, 446 work there nowIncludes University of Washington. Our estimates of where the 943 people shaping AI who worked at Google and Google DeepMind work now: 446 at Google and 452 across 278 other organizations.
  4. 20% of people at companies who shape AI also hold a university role, led by Google and Stanford UniversityIncludes University of Washington. We estimate that 539 of the 6,766 people with a known current organization (8%) hold both a university role and a company role, including 20% of people at companies and 13% of people at universities.

Colleagues

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

Sources and credits

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  1. Maya Cakmak, Professor - Paul G. Allen School of Computer Science & Engineering cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  2. Maya Cakmak builds teachable robots to help humans – UW+Amazon Science Hub sciencehub.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  3. Maya Cakmak to join UW CSE news.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  4. Maya Cakmak’s Webpage homes.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  5. Code3: A System for End-to-End Programming of Mobile Manipulator Robots for Novices and Experts hcrlab.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  6. UW CSE’s Maya Cakmak receives NSF CAREER Award news.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  7. Maya Cakmak named 2018 Sloan Research Fellow news.cs.washington.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  8. Maya Cakmak’s research page mayacakmak.io. Checked 21 October 2026.
  9. Signals + Society: Personal Robots — Is It Finally Time? techpolicylab.uw.edu. Checked 21 October 2026.
  10. Maya Cakmak’s home page mayacakmak.io. Checked 21 October 2026.