A distinguished faculty member in MSU’s Bagley College of Engineering was named as a Fulbright Scholar advancing her research in Australia during the 2018-2019 academic year.
Cindy Bethel, an associate professor in MSU’s Department of Computer Science and Engineering, will continue her research on therapeutic robots at the University of Technology in Sydney.
Sponsored by the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, the Fulbright program is the U.S. government’s flagship international exchange program. It is designed to increase mutual understanding between Americans and the international community. Through the Fulbright program and other international initiatives, MSU regularly sends faculty members around the globe to foster the institution’s land-grant missions of learning, research and service.
Bethel said she was humbled to receive the award.
“It is such a wonderful honor to be selected in such a competitive process,” Bethel said. “It is a prestigious award and I am still having a difficult time realizing I have been selected and will have this amazing opportunity.”
Bethel also said she was excited about her upcoming trip “down under.”
“(I’m excited about) the opportunity to perform research in a new environment and culture,” Bethel said. “I have always wanted to spend time in Australia, and this is the perfect opportunity for me to explore the area and perform meaningful research.”
Bethel holds the Billie J. Ball Endowed Professorship in Engineering, and she is well known in her field for Therabot, the robotic and therapeutic beagle puppy she created.
While Bethel is in Australia, she will collaborate with researchers in the University of Technology Sydney’s Magic Lab for Social Robotics to improve the design and function of Therabot, and test its effectiveness. Bethel and her team are working to develop a robotic therapy support system, which includes providing a small robotic dog, like Therabot, to those undergoing therapy, especially those with post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD).
While she will be away from MSU for part of the 2018-2019 academic year, Bethel said she has confidence in her graduate assistants to continue their research while she is away.
“I will miss my students and colleagues while I am traveling,” Bethel said. “I have wonderful graduate and undergraduate students working with me, and I hope that they will continue to make excellent progress with their projects and I look forward to continuing to advance their research efforts once I return, and also before I leave.”
J. Edward Swan, professor and interim department head of Computer Science and Engineering, said he was not surprised to hear Bethel was chosen as a Fulbright Scholar.
Swan said he has worked with Bethel for about five years and wrote a letter of support for her.
“I’ve analyzed her materials and I had worked on a Fulbright project of my own six or seven years ago,” Swan said. “I thought her story was very good and most likely to succeed.”
Swan said Bethel is an enthusiastic person who works hard.
“She’s always doing something,” Swan said. “She works very hard and is able to communicate excitement about what she’s doing, what her lab is doing, what her students are doing. So, she’s very enthusiastic.”
Swan believes that Bethel’s endeavors in Australia will not only add to her lab, but also to the country.
“Science is a worldwide endeavor and I’m sure that it will help Dr. Bethel and her lab to see what’s going on in robotics in Australia, and it will help them as well,” Swan said. “That’s really the point of the Fulbright program—to foster those sorts of international collaborations.”
Bethel said she was excited to represent MSU halfway around the world.
“I look forward to representing MSU in this international research effort, and I am so thankful for this opportunity,” Bethel said.
At MSU, Bethel is the director of the Social, Therapeutic, and Robotic Systems (STaRS) Lab. She also is a research fellow with the university’s Center for Advanced Vehicular Systems and the Social Science Research Center. More information on Bethel’s research project can be found at stars.msstate.edu or cindybethel.com