About

axg210195@utdallas.edu
+1 940-842-9325

Interdisciplinary Researcher | Design Educator | Cultural Technologist

I am an interdisciplinary researcher exploring the cultural, technological, and embodied dimensions of breath, as in air—a subject as essential as it is invisible. Currently pursuing my PhD in the Arts, Technology, and Emerging Communication (ATEC) program at The University of Texas at Dallas, my research critically examines how breath becomes data through wearable technologies. Grounded in technocultural studies, human-computer interaction, and speculative design, my work challenges how we experience and govern the body in our increasingly quantified world.

Rooted in my yoga practice and the philosophical understanding of prāṇa, I investigate how breath moves across biological, cultural, and algorithmic frameworks. My project, Exhaling Data, interrogates the promises and perils of breath-tracking wearables by asking: “How do wearable technologies, through design, algorithms, and cultural frameworks, convert breath from a biological process to a computational process? What social, technological, economic, and ideological factors contribute to this shift, and what does it mean for the future of embodied computing?”

Beyond academia, I bring over a decade of experience as an arts and innovation design educator and social entrepreneur in India. As Co-founder of Workbench Projects, I helped build one of the country’s earliest public makerspaces and innovation labs. Through Yuva Chintana Foundation, a grassroots nonprofit, I continue to support initiatives in education, employability, and creative empowerment across Karnataka. My academic training includes a Master’s in Business Administration and Gallery Studies & Critical Curating from the UK, which informs my interdisciplinary approach at the intersection of innovation, culture, and design.

I AM GOOD AT

  • Thought Leadership
  • Cross-Sector Innovation Strategy
  • Human-Centered Research & Insight Generation
  • Speculative & Critical Design Methodologies
  • Applied Research for Workforce Development

Positions held

Managing Trustee– Yuva Chintana Foundation, Bangalore, India. (May 2011 till date)

Co-Founder/ Director– Workbench Projects, Bangalore, India. (December 2013 till date)

Director– Brains for Science & Technology Aided Reforms in Society (BrainSTARS), Bangalore, India (September 2010 to September 2013)

Programme Executive– Arts Education, India Foundation for the Arts, Term: March 2009 to March 2015 (Between 2013-15 Part-Time)

Curator/ Business Development Manager– Karnataka Chitrakala Parishath, Bangalore, India (2004-2006)

Guest Faculty, Dept of Art History- College of Fine Arts, Bangalore, India (2002-2006 Part-Time)