About me

Since starting MIT in 2007, Ben has worked for Professor Tod Machover at the MIT Media Lab, touring internationally to design and support technology for his productions. Specifically, he works on advanced surround sound and spatialization systems for live entertainment.  Ben’s systems have been praised (with their associated performances) by critics for the the London Times, Chicago Tribune, and Wall Street Journal. He started running sound at age nine and has since engineered hundreds of shows in venues all over the US and Europe. In his time on the road, he’s crossed paths with many artists, engineers and designers (from Hollywood, Broadway, with Grammys, Tonies, etc.) He’s very interested in how entertainment professionals interact with technology, especially in high-stress situations, such as live performance, or during creative processes, such as composing or directing.

At the lab Ben works with Peter Torpey to build systems which push the limits of performance and expression. Their goal is create technology which brings the performers closer to the audience instead of diminishing them in the presence of large screens or sets.

In his free time, Ben likes to sing and play piano and guitar. For more reading, check out his thoughts on art and technology and the people he looks up to. Ben was also recently featured in the MIT Technology Review and has written for Bowers & Wilkins. Before college, Ben spent a lot of time in the theater at Northampton High School. There’s a pretty good summary of Ben’s pre-college shenanigans in this school-newspaper article published about him.

Awesome photo by Moni!