Kelly Dobson

Kelly Dobson (SMVisS ’00, PhD ‘07) is an artist, engineer, and research scientist. Driven by concerns regarding imbalances of power, contemporary mass marketed devices, limitations of healthcare and wellness systems, and with passion for supporting meaningful human connection, Kelly explores ways that we, and the things we make, may help us be responsibly present with one another and with ourselves. Her work on Companion Projects garnered a Rockefeller New Media Art fellowship and a Vida Art and Artificial Life award. She served as Associate Professor and Chair of RISD’s Digital + Media department after graduating from MIT, and founded and led an interdisciplinary team at Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects (ATAP) for almost a decade. Her work has been part of numerous art exhibitions and published in engineering journals, in Wired, Res, Make, Gourmet, and in books including Design Meets Disability, Adversarial Design, FAB, Makers, The Art of Critical Making, and Interrogative Design.