Joel Ryan studied physics and philosophy at The Claremont Colleges and the University of California, and then music technology at Stanford University and the Mills College Center for Contemporary Music. A pioneer in the design of musical instruments based on real time digital signal processing, he has collaborated extensively with composers and artists including George Lewis and Malcolm Goldstein. Formerly a Research Associate at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratories of the Univesity of California, he now works at STEIM in Amsterdam.