HELLO, MY NAME IS BECCA
I am a PhD candidate at USC working in Maja Mataric's Social Interaction Lab.
CONTACT ME
WHO AM I?
My name is Rebecca Funke, and I am a second year computer science PhD student at the University of Southern California. My research focuses on advancing AI via real-world applications. I am also involved in promoting and improving K-12 computer science education. Outside of computer science I am an active traveler, explorer, and foodie! I am ready for any adventure life throws my way! Learn more about my work through my resume below.
WHAT I DO?
Currently, I am a member of Maja Mataric's Social Interaction Lab at USC. Our lab focuses on developing computational principles and techniques to enable socially assistive human-robot interaction. The goal of Socially Assistive Robotics (SAR) is to improve user health and wellness, communication, learning, and autonomy. My specific work focuses on considering how to improve reward models for SAR systems to motivate each user to stay engaged with the system over multiple uses.
Why I Do It?
Throughout my life, I have found great pleasure in helping those in need. Maja's lab at USC helps me bring together my two main goals in life: (1) expand my computer science knowledge and (2) assist others whenever possible. Here at USC I have the ability to combine these driving interest in my life.
VIEW MY RESUME