Associate Dean at California Institute of the Arts

Ajay's work revolves around one question: "How do you make a robotic instrument improvise with a human?" Using the rules set forth by Indian classical as well as other Asian musical traditions, Ajay has been driven to build new interfaces for musical expression through extending the classical and folk Asian musical forms, with added microchips and embedded sensor systems, while designing custom robotic musical instruments. He leads a team of artists and engineers exploring the intersection of music, composition, storytelling, science and technology in the KarmetiK Machine Orchestra. In this talk, Ajay will also discuss the educational pathway setup at California Institute of the Arts that helps foster the modern artist equipped with knowledge in technology, algorithms, and aesthetics.