Skip to main content

University of Michigan School of Information

Menu
Brueckner

Sophia Brueckner

Associate Professor of Art and Design, Penny W Stamps School of Art and Design, Associate Professor of Information, School of Information and Associate Professor of Digital Studies Institute, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts Email: [email protected] Phone: 734/763-1460
Office: LSA Digital Studies Institute/5700 Haven Hall Faculty Role: Faculty Potential PhD Faculty Advisor: Yes Personal website News About Sophia Brueckner

Biography

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 about Sophia Brueckner

"2023 UMSI Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Awards"
UMSI announces 2023 DEI Awards recipients

UMSI recognizes 14 individuals for their positive impact on the school’s diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.

More Info
"Quoted by Bridge Michigan, Associate professor Sophia Brueckner, 'Delta launches high-tech screen at Detroirt Metro with personal flight data'" Headshot of Sophia Brueckner.
Brueckner: A new high-tech screen at Detroit airport seems harmless but consumers should be skeptical

Associate professor Sophia Brueckner says a new screen that shows 100 travelers their flight information at the same time isn’t just a neat gimmick– it has implications for data privacy.

More Info