Reza Ali is a freelance designer and software engineer. His work encompasses computer graphics, digital fabrication, computational design, user interfaces, and software engineering. His projects manifest themselves as either visual art, hardware, 3D prints forms, video, interactive installations, mobile, desktop, and web apps. Reza is interested in the ideas and implications of his projects, tools, and ways of working. As a researcher, he is passionate about solving complex problems by creating new technologies and open sourcing them to allow others to utilize his work to build the future. Through his projects, Reza explores the feedback cycle that occurs when customs tools are written to accomplish a project / product, and how those tools can enable work to go beyond what the designer had originally envisioned. Reza's clients include Dolby Laboratories, OK GO, Deadmau5, Samsung, Nokia, Razorfish, Bot & Dolly, SXSW, Motion Theory, Bonnaroo, Vrse, Skycatch, Moving Brands, B-Reel, and others. Reza's work and research has been shown in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Las Vegas. Currently, he is conducting self-driven research in digital fabrication, computational design, software tools and interfaces.

Email: syed.reza.ali@gmail.com |
Tweet: @rezaali |
Insta: syedrezaali

Location: Emeryville, San Francisco, Palo Alto,
Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, New York, Miami

2015

  1. Exhibited work at Autodesk's Pier 9 AIR Show. Made a 3D Printer with a custom extruder for chocolate / food printing. 
  2. Went to FITC (Japan) and NVScene (San Jose). 
  3. Created a new UI library for Cinder
  4. Created a new Tiler Render library for Cinder
  5. Designed and coded various data visualization using C++, GLSL, Cinder (glNext), OpenGL 4.0 for CSA (BCG) 
  6. Featured in Viewpoint Magazine as an innovative designer in the design & data space. 
  7. Spoke at Eyeo Festival about going from the virtual to the physical (software to digital fabrication) 
  8. Met the girl of his dreams.
  9. Created an immersive installation for Dolby Laboratories' new headquarters (1275 Market St, SF, CA),
  10. Was a Guest Researcher @ YCAM (December 2015 - February 2016).
  11. Created logo designs and intro animation cards for Vrse. 
  12. Wrote complex computational geometry route planning algorithms in C++ for Skycatch. 
  13. Released Fragment, a design tool that utilizes GLSL and live coding to allow anyone to create spectacular imagery with math(s)!

2014

  1. Worked at Patten Studio on a Giant Video Mirror Wall Installation for Intel @ CES
  2. Designed & Produced 6 Generative Music Videos for OK GO's 2014-2015 World Tour
  3. Bonnaroo Clock Tower Visuals w/ GMUNK
  4. Artist Residency @ Autodesk, Pier 9
  5. Won Urban Data Canvas Hackathon (w/ Johan Bichel Lindegaard, Jasper Speicher, Erik van der Molen)
  6. Rise App Clone @ Famo.us Featured in Forbes (w/ Tim Chin)
  7. Art/Design Work Featured in New Move Trend Diary 2014-2016
  8. Spoke at CCRMA @ Stanford. Guest Visual Artist @ CCRMA Modulation's 2014 

2013

  1. Worked at Miselu (Hardware / Software Music Startup, SoMA, SF)
  2. Worked at Famo.us (Web Technology Startup, SoMA, SF)
  3. Worked on CLOUDS (w/ James George, Jonathan Minard + GMUNK + Pato)
  4. Worked on ofxUI 
  5. VJed for LL Cool J @ SXSW
  6. Collaborated with GMUNK on an art project for Vine
  7. Heron Arts Residency
  8. GAFFTA Workshop (w/ Josh Nimoy)
  9. Showed work at Art by Code (Codame + Public Works)
  10. Made a WebGL Renderer (for Famo.us)
  11. Moved from Palo Alto to San Francisco

2012

  1. Won Art Hack Day (Audio Shader Toy) w/ Gabe Dunne + Ryan Alexander
  2. Audio Shader Toy was shown at Creator's Project)  
  3. OMG - Shepard Fairey
  4. Drawnetic Android App - Razorfish
  5. Nokia Freelance (wearables + cloud + web apps)
  6. Nexleaf (wireless sensor networks + cloud + data visualization (D3.js)
  7. Moved from Santa Monica to Palo Alto  

2011

  1. Worked for Motion Theory under Mathew Cullen, Kaan Atilla, and Chris Riehl 
  2. Worked at Nokia Research Center under Rebecca Allen (Founding Chair of Design Media Arts @ UCLA) and Sean White.
  3. Freelanced for POSSIBLE (created an audio-visual VJ app for Deadmau5)
  4. Freelanced for  Santa Barbara Museum of Art  (created an iPad app, iCubist, that augmented the museum's Analytic Cubist Exhibit featuring works from Picasso and Braque). 
  5. Gave presentations at Nokia Design, Google Data Arts Center, NIME 2010, and NIME 2011. 
  6. Was featured in two books: Visual Complexity by Manuel Lima and Generative Art by Matt Pearson 
  7. Was featured on www.creativeapplications.net and www.thecreatorsproject.vice.com.
  8. Worked on a gallery installation, and various other personal new media art projects.

2008 - 2010

  1. Moved to California from New York
  2. Earned a Master of Science in Multimedia Engineering (with a focus in Visual and Spatial Arts) from the Media Arts and Technology at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
  3. Advisors were George Legrady (Data Visualization Artist), Casey Reas (Co-Creator of Processing, MIT Media Lab), and Matthew Turk (MIT Media Lab).
  4. His research and projects at MAT were shown at various venues around the world: NIME 2011 (Oslo, Norway), NIME 2010 (Sydney, Australia), Mindshare (Los Angeles, California), Mixed Greens Gallery (New York, New York).
  5. Moved from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles (Venice)

2004 - 2008

  1. Graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute with two B.S. (Mechanical and Electrical Engineering) 
  2. Earned Minors in Electronic Art and Product Design) studying under Curtis Bahn, Shawn Lawson and Kenneth Conner.
  3. Was the top student in the electrical engineering department (GPA 3.96)
  4. Won merits in the Electronic Arts classes he took throughout his time at RPI.
  5. Won a prestigious scholarship to Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute