Past Member

Nikhita Singh

Former Research Assistant
  • Personal Robots

I design, build and study how people interact with smart technologies through objects, spaces, and tools.

My work lives at the intersections of intelligent machines, data, and human-centered design. Over the years, I have worked on a series of projects in this space, including conducting user research studies of how older adults can benefit from AI technologies, building a dataset and model for children's nonverbal behaviors, working with a team to teach science and robotics to child refugees at the US-Mexico border, designing proactive agents for the future smart home, and taking a social robot into zero gravity. 

Currently, I am a graduate student at the MIT Media Lab in Cynthia Breazeal’s Personal Robots group, where I design and study socially intelligent AI platforms. Prior to this, I worked at Palantir Technologies in New York City, Paris, D.C., and California. In 2014, I graduated from UC Berkeley with an undergraduate degree in Industrial Engineering and Operations Research. While there, I worked with Ken Goldberg at the Berkeley Laboratory for Automation Science and Engineering and was part of the Berkeley Innovation team. I also spent summers working at various startups including Rypple and Loose Button, and university research labs. Additionally, I have consulted for and worked on projects with Sonos, Frog Design, Bose, as well as several other Fortune 500 companies and government agencies. I was honored to be named one of Canada's Top 20 Under 20, and to receive the Leading Women, Building Communities Award.

Outside of my work, I can be found volunteering with the Field Innovation Team on disaster relief projects. I love to travel, photograph my adventures, and illustrate my experiences with doodles and tiny handwriting. Several of my travel drawings have been featured by travel websites around the world, like this one. I also have a love for all things artsy, am often irresponsibly caffeinated, and love hanging out in the machine shop.