Patrick Chwalek

Patrick Chwalek is a PhD candidate in the Responsive Environments Group at MIT, where he develops and deploys sensor systems for real-world applications. He is actively creating devices to study wildlife in their natural habitats, including Arctic birds, endangered bees in Patagonia, wild dogs, and big cats. His research also explores how urban environments influence people’s physical and mental states and how comfort perception varies with engagement.

Before joining the MIT Media Lab in 2018, Patrick worked at MIT Lincoln Laboratory for three years, focusing on wearable embedded systems for physiological monitoring, remote surveillance systems, and machine learning algorithms for sensor-driven target classification. During his PhD, he has also completed internships focused on deployable technologies for environmental surveillance and exploration support. Additionally, he has worked with the National Geographic Society in their Exploration Technology Lab.

Patrick holds a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, a master's degree in computer science from the Georgia Institute of Technology, and a master's degree from the MIT Media Lab, specializing in product design, electronic sensing, and deployable systems.