Rayna Hata
I am a Ph.D. student at The Robotics Institute at Carnegie Mellon University focusing on Accessibility and Human-Robot Interactions (HRI). I am advised by Professor Aaron Steinfeld and am part of the Transportation, Bots, and Disability Lab.
I graduated from Colby College in 2023 with a B.A. in Computer Science and Japanese. At Colby, I worked under Professor Stacy Doore on robotic guide dogs for the blind. Outside of academics, I was on the varsity swim team and the club rugby team.
You can contact me at rhata@andrew.cmu.edu.
news
| Dec 12, 2025 | I successfully defended my master’s thesis and passed my Ph.D. speaking qualifier. |
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| Nov 10, 2025 | I attended the HAI conference in Yokohama, Japan, where I presented at the Workshop on Socially Aware and Cooperative Intelligent Systems on my most recent work on social exercise coaches for older adults (short paper). I also presented a poster on my prior work, focusing on need finding and early design insights for exercise robots for older adults. |
| Jul 16, 2025 | I had the pleasure of presenting my research at the RIKEN Center for Advanced Intelligence Project (AIP) in Tokyo, Japan, hosted by Dr. Mihoko Otake-Matsuura. This seminar was co-hosted by the Cognitive Behavioral Assistive Technology (CBAT) Team, RIKEN AIP, and the Special Interest Group on “Nursing Care Robot” of the Robotics Society of Japan (SIGNCR-RSJ). 🎥 Watch the talk here |
| Jul 01, 2025 | I had the pleasure of presenting my research at the Harada-Kurose-Mukuta Lab at The University of Tokyo. I had a great time meeting everyone and discussing different research topics! |
| May 30, 2025 | I had the pleasure of presenting my research at Keio University today. I am looking forward to forming more connections and potential collaborations with researchers around the world! |