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Sophia Brueckner

Associate Professor
Associate Professor, School of Information
Associate Professor, Digital Studies Institute

Contact

Photograph of Sophia Brueckner

Biography

Curriculum Vitae
  • MS in Media Arts and Sciences, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
  • MFA in Digital + Media, Rhode Island School of Design
  • Sc.B. in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics, Brown University

Sophia Brueckner, born in Detroit, MI, is a futurist artist/designer/engineer. Inseparable from computers since the age of two, she believes she is a cyborg.

She received her Sc.B. in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from Brown University. As a software engineer at Google, she designed and implemented products used by tens of millions and later on experimental projects within Google Research.

Brueckner earned her MFA in Digital + Media at the Rhode Island School of Design and MS in the Fluid Interfaces group at the MIT Media Lab where she investigated the simultaneously empowering and controlling aspects of technology within computer programming, algorithms, user experience design (especially social networks) and tangible interfaces.

Since 2011, Brueckner has taught Sci-Fi Prototyping, a course combining sci-fi, extrapolative thinking, prototypes, and the ethics of invention/design at MIT, Harvard, RISD, Brown, and the University of Michigan. Both the class itself as well as the students’ individual projects received international recognition and were featured by The Atlantic, Smithsonian Magazine, Wired, NPR, Scientific American, Fast Company, and many others.

Brueckner is the founder and creative director of Tomorrownaut, a creative studio focusing on speculative futures and sci-fi-inspired prototypes.

Brueckner’s work has been featured by SIGGRAPH, Artforum, Eyeo, ISEA, the Peabody Essex Museum, Portugal’s National Museum of Contemporary Art, TEDx, the Bemis Center for Contemporary Art, and more. She is currently an assistant professor at University of Michigan's Stamps School of Art and Design and School of Information where she teaches sci-fi prototyping, digital fabrication, creative programming, design, and art + technology. Her ongoing objective is to meaningfully combine her background in design and engineering with the perspective of an artist to inspire a more positive future.

News

a computer's ESC key on a red background, with the text "Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing" superimposed

Sophia Brueckner to Moderate Nov. 11 Working Ethically in Tech Event
Woman standing in the airport looking up at the flight board.

Sophia Brueckner Interviewed by Bridge Michigan
Image of the sky, with white clouds over a background of blue fading to reddish pink

Sophia Brueckner: Solo Exhibition at Unrequited Leisure
center for ethics, society, and computing home screen

Sophia Brueckner: Joins the Center for Ethics, Society, and Computing program as a co-director
Grid of 6 images of faces from artworks of different media, representing people of varying gender and race. Each face is identified by a bracket like those used in facial recognition software.

Fair Representation in Arts and Data
The words reimagine Fall 2021 Speaker Series are displayed over a background image of brightly colored autumn leaves

Sophia Brueckner: Dalai Lama Center for Ethics and Transformative Values
Portrait of Sophia Brueckner

Sophia Brueckner: Data for Good, Ethically at Ohio State
poster for White Cube Black Box, showing a Japanese painting

Sophia Brueckner and Shannon Yeung: White Cube / Black Box at UMMA
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Sophia Brueckner Interviewed by Digital Village
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Sophia Brueckner awarded U-M Arts Initiative Grant
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Sophia Brueckner in Leonardo
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Sophia Brueckner at International Symposium on Electronic Art
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Sophia Brueckner at International Conference on Computational Creativity
Sophia Brueckner: Captured by an Algorithm (2018)

Sophia Brueckner at SIGGRAPH Art Gallery
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Sophia Brueckner in SciArt Magazine
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Sophia Brueckner on -empyre-
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Sophia Brueckner: Art & Technology Exhibition
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Sophia Brueckner: Keynote Speaker at Commiserate New Media Art Festival
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Sophia Brueckner Named Nokia Bell Labs Artist in Residence
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Sophia Brueckner at SIGGRAPH Asia

Work

Sophia Brueckner: Embodisuit Sophia Brueckner: Embodisuit Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Embodisuit
Sophia Brueckner: Embodisuit Sophia Brueckner: Embodisuit Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Embodisuit
Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box
Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box
Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Box
Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Amulet Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Amulet Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Empathy Amulet
Sophia Brueckner: Eye of the Beholder Sophia Brueckner: Eye of the Beholder Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Eye of the Beholder
Sophia Brueckner: Eye of the Beholder Sophia Brueckner: Eye of the Beholder Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Eye of the Beholder
Sophia Brueckner: Dell Dimension XPS D266 Pentium II 266 MHz Sophia Brueckner: Dell Dimension XPS D266 Pentium II 266 MHz Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Dell Dimension XPS D266 Pentium II 266 MHz
Sophia Brueckner: Commodore 64 Sophia Brueckner: Commodore 64 Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Commodore 64
Sophia Brueckner: Romance Series Sophia Brueckner: Romance Series Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Romance Series
Sophia Brueckner: Romance Series Sophia Brueckner: Romance Series Faculty Sophia Brueckner: Romance Series