Michele Reilly
Michele Reilly is a scientist, an artist, and a systems thinker whose work resists easy classification. She trained in architecture and art at Cooper Union, where she began building intelligent machines and quickly became fascinated by the logic behind them. That curiosity drew her into mathematics, cryptography, macroeconomics, and eventually quantum physics. Her path has been shaped less by credentials than by the depth of her questions.
At MIT, where she teaches in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michele works at the intersection of computation and the structure of spacetime. She explores how information flows through the universe, drawing from Claude Shannon’s foundational theories and extending them into the quantum realm. Her research is ambitious, but it is rooted in careful thinking. She is not interested in speculation for its own sake. She wants to know what can be built, what can be measured, and what will last.
In 2016, she co-founded Turing, a quantum technology startup focused on building portable quantum memories and tools for long-distance quantum communication. She works closely with physicist Seth Lloyd on designing the scalable, robust systems needed to move quantum computing from theory into practice. The work is intricate and deliberate, building slowly toward a future that she sees as both beautiful and unfamiliar.
Michele is also a storyteller. Her science fiction series Steeplechase has received awards at Cannes and other international festivals. It reflects her belief that narrative and science are not separate pursuits, but parallel ways of exploring the unknown. In her teaching, she brings these strands together, guiding students through exercises that combine quantum theory, creative writing, and world-building. One of her courses, supported by MIT’s Center for Art, Science and Technology, invites students to imagine speculative futures grounded in scientific inquiry.
On her arm is a tattoo of Alan Turing. It is not ornamental. It is a quiet tribute to a thinker whose life and work continue to shape her own. Turing’s dedication to truth, structure, and the ethical weight of technology is a constant presence in her thinking. She carries it with her, quite literally.
The portrait above was made at The Interval at the Long Now Foundation in San Francisco. Michele is seated beside a polished table that reflects her image. Behind her stands the Orrery, a planetary model designed to keep time for ten thousand years. The setting reflects the spirit of her work. She is grounded in the present but always thinking forward, asking how we might live in ways that honor complexity, care, and continuity. She does not speak often about legacy. She speaks about attention, about precision, and about the discipline of staying with difficult questions until they begin to yield something real.
Michele Reilly
Michele Reilly is a scientist, an artist, and a systems thinker whose work resists easy classification. She trained in architecture and art at Cooper Union, where she began building intelligent machines and quickly became fascinated by the logic behind them. That curiosity drew her into mathematics, cryptography, macroeconomics, and eventually quantum physics. Her path has been shaped less by credentials than by the depth of her questions.
At MIT, where she teaches in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Michele works at the intersection of computation and the structure of spacetime. She explores how information flows through the universe, drawing from Claude Shannon’s foundational theories and extending them into the quantum realm. Her research is ambitious, but it is rooted in careful thinking. She is not interested in speculation for its own sake. She wants to know what can be built, what can be measured, and what will last.
In 2016, she co-founded Turing, a quantum technology startup focused on building portable quantum memories and tools for long-distance quantum communication. She works closely with physicist Seth Lloyd on designing the scalable, robust systems needed to move quantum computing from theory into practice. The work is intricate and deliberate, building slowly toward a future that she sees as both beautiful and unfamiliar.
Michele is also a storyteller. Her science fiction series Steeplechase has received awards at Cannes and other international festivals. It reflects her belief that narrative and science are not separate pursuits, but parallel ways of exploring the unknown. In her teaching, she brings these strands together, guiding students through exercises that combine quantum theory, creative writing, and world-building. One of her courses, supported by MIT’s Center for Art, Science and Technology, invites students to imagine speculative futures grounded in scientific inquiry.
On her arm is a tattoo of Alan Turing. It is not ornamental. It is a quiet tribute to a thinker whose life and work continue to shape her own. Turing’s dedication to truth, structure, and the ethical weight of technology is a constant presence in her thinking. She carries it with her, quite literally.
The portrait above was made at The Interval at the Long Now Foundation in San Francisco. Michele is seated beside a polished table that reflects her image. Behind her stands the Orrery, a planetary model designed to keep time for ten thousand years. The setting reflects the spirit of her work. She is grounded in the present but always thinking forward, asking how we might live in ways that honor complexity, care, and continuity. She does not speak often about legacy. She speaks about attention, about precision, and about the discipline of staying with difficult questions until they begin to yield something real.