Jas Brooks — Associate Consultant

Jas Brooks (they/them) is an incoming Assistant Professor at MIT EECS/CSAIL (starting Fall 2026). They recently completed a Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of Chicago, where they were advised by Professor Pedro Lopes. They envision a future where people can adjust their senses as easily as they tweak their phone settings, empowering them to modify their smell, taste, temperature, or touch for health, comfort, or safety. For example, users might reduce sweetness perception to avoid unhealthy drinks or use a nose clip to detect noxious gases that are otherwise imperceivable. However, today’s interfaces struggle to incorporate these senses due to challenges like power inefficiency and miniaturization. Their research overcomes these barriers through perceptual engineering: the design of interfaces that precisely modulate human sensory perception, such as temperature, touch, taste, and smell. These interfaces are power-efficient, compact, versatile, and selective, enabling new interactive applications from health interventions to immersive experiences. Jas has published work at top Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) venues, including ACM CHI and UIST, of which 2 received Best Paper Awards. Their work has also been awarded an Honorable Mention in the Fast Company Innovation by Design Award and covered in media publications like WIRED, Fast Company, Digital Trends, and IEEE Spectrum. Jas is a 2023 Rising Star in EECS and a 2024 Siebel Scholar, and was a National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow.

Stackforce AI infers this person is a leading researcher in Human-Computer Interaction with a focus on sensory technology.

Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States

Experience: 9 yrs 1 mo