- Responsive Environments
Irmandy received his M.Sc. ETH '16 in Electrical Engineering and Information Technology from the ETH Zurich and S.M. '19 and Ph.D. '24 in Media Arts and Sciences at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Throughout his research and studies, he was involved in several companies and institutions (StudioXO for Haus of Gaga, Atmel, and KAUST) and in areas such as fashion/wearable technology and consumer electronics, from designing mechatronic dress, spacesuits, to developing stretchable electronic patches and wearable, interior, and architectural fabrics. His work has been published and featured in various academic journals and conferences, as well as news and media, including IEEE, Nature, CACM, Advanced Materials, Popular Science, Forbes, FastCompany, Quartz, TechCrunch, Dezeen, Domus Magazine and Wired Italia and presented in Burning Man, SXSW, MIT Museum, Cambridge Science Festival, Boston Fashion Week, Lexus Intersect Tokyo, and the World Economic Forum.
His current interests are the design, fabrication, and interaction techniques of unconventional electronics for ubiquitous computing, sensing, actuation, and energy harvesting, at times exploring the creative interplay between art, design, science, and engineering. The seamless integration of soft functional fibers and miniaturized integrated circuits into common materials has spurred various applications ranging from health and well-being, rehabilitation, human-computer interfaces, interactive media, to immersive-built environments. He has been working closely with textile and flexible electronics factories, making a strong connection between research and manufacturing.