Summary
Max Kanwal is a multidisciplinary researcher and engineer with 11 years of experience at the intersection of neurotechnology, computational neuroscience, and AI alignment. Based in Palo Alto, he has worked at leading labs and institutes—from MIT and Berkeley to Inscopix and SpaceX—building computational models, multimodal measurement systems, and decision-making tools that aim to make psychological well-being and large-scale governance more tractable. Currently a Big If True Science Fellow and Foresight Fellow, he is developing a continuous, passive system to infer well-being from physiological, behavioral, and environmental signals—a practical analogue to a “glucose monitor for mood.” His background blends deep technical internships with research fellowships in information theory, cognitive science, and biologically inspired engineering, and he brings a rare combination of experimental neuroscience rigor and product-minded systems thinking. Outside research, he pursues interests in meditation, film, and acting, reflecting a curiosity about human experience that informs his technical work.
11 years of coding experience
2 years of employment as a software developer
University of California, Berkeley
Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology
Stanford University