Goldie Nejat

Prof. Goldie Nejat, PhD, PEng, FASME is a Full Professor in Mechanical Engineering and the Canada Research Chair in Robots for Society at the University of Toronto. She is also the Founder and Director of the Autonomous Systems and Biomechatronics Laboratory (asblab.mie.utoronto.ca). Professor Nejat is an Adjunct Scientist at KITE at Toronto Rehab in the University Health Network and the Rotman Research Institute at Baycrest Health Sciences, and a Fellow of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR). She is a world-renowned expert in developing intelligent service/assistive robots, robot cooperative teams and AI technologies for applications in health, eldercare, emergency response, search & rescue, retail and manufacturing. She develops and integrates intelligent socially assistive robots for assistive human-robot interactions (HRI) in hospitals, healthcare facilities, long-term care and private homes and for high stress and dangerous jobs. Dr. Nejat’s research is leading the development of intelligent assistive robotic aids that can meet the challenges posed by an aging population and assist with autonomous symptom screening of Infectious Respiratory Diseases. She collaborates with international researchers, healthcare experts and healthcare facilities to develop robots and devices that can be effectively transferred and integrated into people’s everyday lives. Dr. Nejat is helping to change the face of robotics and her work is at the forefront of robotics research. Her research is constantly pushing the capabilities of current robots and intelligent systems. Dr. Nejat has given numerous invited/keynote talks at top international conferences/workshops, healthcare institutions, and universities, and to policymakers, governments and the general public around the world. Her team's work has been presented in numerous  media stories including in Popular Science, National Geographic Magazine, Time Magazine, Bloomberg, NBC News, the Telegraph, Reader's Digest, and the Discovery Channel. In 2020, she received the Engineering Excellence Medal from the Ontario Society of Professional Engineers (PEO) and the Professional Engineers Ontario. Other recognitions include the Engineers Canada Young Engineer Achievement Award, and the Young Engineer Medal from PEO, both awards are for her exceptional achievements in robotics. In 2022, she was named 1 of the 50 women in robotics you need to know about.