Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao

Dr. Cindy Hsin-Liu Kao is an Assistant Professor in Human Centered Design at Cornell University, where she also has graduate field faculty appointments in Information Science and Electrical & Computer Engineering. Her research themes focus on the convergence of function, culture, and aesthetics on the skin surface, blending cultural and social perspectives into the design of on-body interfaces that aim for more inclusive and diverse wearables. Cindy Kao is also the founder and director of the Hybrid Body Lab, where she develops novel digital fabrication processes for crafting technology close to the body.

With a Ph.D. from the MIT Media Lab and two Bachelor's degrees in Computer Science and in Technology Management, all from National Taiwan University, Kao's expertise lies in hybrid body craft, wearable technology, digital fabrication, human-computer interaction, and design research. Her lab's research has won several Honorable Mention and Best Paper Awards in top-tier Computer Science conferences while receiving media coverage by Forbes, CNN, TIME Magazine, Fast Company, WIRED. Her work has been exhibited internationally, including at the Pompidou Centre in Paris, the Boston Museum of Fine Art, and on the New York Fashion Week runway, receiving recognitions from the design community through awards like the A'Design Award, the Fast Company Innovation by Design Award Finalist, an Ars Electronica STARTS Prize Nomination, and the SXSW Interactive Innovation Award.

Cindy Kao also served as the program chair for the ACM International Symposium of Wearable Computers (ISWC), the premier conference for wearable computers. Before joining Cornell, she was a research intern at Microsoft and a research assistant at National Taiwan University.