Past Member

Harpreet Sareen

Former Research Affiliate
  • Fluid Interfaces

Harpreet Sareen is an alum of Fluid Interfaces group. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Interaction and Media Design at Parsons School of Design, New York and Director of the Synthetic Ecosystems Lab that focusses on biological futures and their implications in interaction design. He earned a graduate degree in Media Arts and Sciences from the MIT Media Lab, followed by a research affiliate appointment.

Sareen is interested in the cybernetics of organisms and materials. His work is situated at the intersection of Material Science, Biology and Electronics and draws on the complementary abilities of the biological and artificial worlds. Harpreet terms this as 'Convergent Design' to create hybrid substrates and bionic materials that lend themselves for future ecological machinery, sensing systems and interaction design. 

Sareen has previously lived and worked in the Austria, India, Japan, Singapore and USA. His experience spans corporate research wings, studios, museums to academic centers having previously worked at Google Creative Lab, Microsoft Research, MIT Media Lab, Ars Electronica Museum, National University of Singapore, Keio University and more. His projects are often a synergistic integration of Robotics, Software, Electronics for prototype or final interactive experiences. 

Harpreet has previously been named as MIT Technology Review Under 35 Innovator (2013), awarded Genpact-NASSCOM National Social Innovation Honour and other recognitions from Microsoft. His academic work has been published at peer-reviewed conferences like CHI, UIST and HCI journals; and his artwork has been showcased at Beijing Biennale, Ars Electronica Festival, MIT Museum and more. He has been invited to TEDx venues and lectures internationally in universities and innovation centers.