Jeff Burke

Jeff Burke is a three-time UCLA alumnus (B.S., M.S., electrical engineering; M.F.A., film, television and digital media) who has created, produced, managed, programmed and designed experimental performances, films, new genre art installations and creative technologies for over two decades. A TFT faculty member since 2001, Burke’s research and creative work explores the intersections of technology and creative expression, in participate how artists can participate in shaping the emerging technologies that they use to create.

In 2004, Burke co-founded UCLA TFT’s Center for Research in Engineering, Media and Performance (REMAP), a collaboration with the Henry Samueli School of Engineering and Applied Science, which combines research, artistic production and community engagement. At REMAP, Burke’s research and creative projects have been supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and NEA, Intel, Cisco, Qualcomm, Trust for Mutual Understanding, the MacArthur Foundation and a Google Focused Award, among others.  For TFT, he developed and led the Future Storytelling Summer Institutes (2014, 2018-2020), intensive multidisciplinary workshops on virtual production, augmented reality,and artificial intelligence, as well as producing Francis Ford Coppola’s six-week Distant Vision workshop and the Swarovski-supported documentary Waterschool, shot by TFT graduate students across six countries.

Burke has held leadership roles in major multidisciplinary research projects including the NSF Center for Networked Sensing (area lead for participatory sensing, 2006-2012) and the Named Data Networking project (co-principal investigator and application team lead, 2010-2022), a multi-campus effort supported by the NSF and an international consortium to develop a future Internet architecture.  He is the principal investigator of the Innovation, Culture, and Creativity project, funded by the National Science Foundation to explore opportunities nationwide for innovation at the intersection of the creative and technology sectors.  

Recently, Burke developed and produced the Department of Theater and REMAP’s experimental, immersive production of the musical Xanadu in Spring 2025, in which a multidisciplinary student team explored new approaches to audience participation incorporating extended reality, mobile apps and generative artificial intelligence.