Kerstin Dautenhahn (born 1964) is a German computer scientist specializing in social robotics and human–robot interaction. She is a professor of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Waterloo, where she holds the Canada 150 Research Chair in Intelligent Robotics and directs the Social and Intelligent Robotics Research Laboratory. Her main research areas include human–robot interaction, social robotics, assistive technology, and artificial intelligence, with an aim to further study topics such as social learning, human-robot collaboration, autobiographic memory, narrative, cooperation and coordination. In the application of these research areas, she has notably been interested in uses of companion robots to support independent living for the elderly, and in the therapy and education of children with autism.