Conversations with Alireza Bahremand

Today we’d like to introduce you to Alireza Bahremand.

Hi Alireza, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I grew up in Arizona and have called it home since kindergarten. I’ve lived all around the Valley—mostly Mesa—and went to school at Arizona State University, where I later entered a PhD program focused on digitizing real-world experiences, including work on a virtual reality “Smell Engine.” Along the way, I did internships at places like NASA and local tech companies, and that exposure really shaped how I think about creativity, innovation, and education.

I’ve always been a curious person. I taught myself to code in high school, and at ASU I got deeply involved with virtual reality through clubs and classmates. What fascinated me most wasn’t just the technology—it was the people behind it. I’d spend hours reading about the inventors and researchers who built the tools we now take for granted, trying to understand the human stories that drive technological progress. That same curiosity extended to the people around me. I enjoy moving between different friend groups and staying in touch because I’ve always loved seeing how differently people think and create.

During my PhD, I connected with a professor who challenged me to think bigger about the future of digital experiences. That led me to explore how VR could be used as a vessel for education—how we could make abstract concepts feel real and immersive. Eventually, I decided to leave the PhD program to focus full-time on building those systems, joining ASU’s Dreamscape Learn team, where we develop virtual reality experiences for education. The work combines storytelling, science, and technology to make learning feel like exploration. Today, we connect thousands of students each week through VR biology, chemistry, and astronomy courses.

More recently, I joined a small creative studio called Chaotic Curiosity, founded by a friend, where we’re exploring new ways to blend education, art, and AI. Our current work includes research and commercial projects both inside and outside the university. It’s a space where I can experiment freely and continue following my curiosity into new directions.

At the heart of everything I do is that same drive that started years ago—to stay curious, to keep learning, and to help others discover what excites them. Whether it’s through building systems, collaborating with students, or experimenting with new ideas, I just want to keep finding ways to make technology feel a little more magical for humans.

Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It definitely hasn’t been a smooth road. I’ve made plenty of decisions that set me back in some ways and pushed me forward in others—but I think, in time, everything connects the way it’s supposed to.

My parents immigrated from Iran after the revolution and had to rebuild their lives from scratch. They both became small business owners. My mom ran a hair salon, and my dad operated a handful of water and ice cream stores. I started working at 13, helping him run the shops on weekends, so hard work has always been a part of my life. It taught me a lot about responsibility but also left little room to slow down.

The hardest chapter was during and after my PhD program. It was a huge leap for someone who didn’t come from an academic background, and while it shaped how I think, it was also isolating and exhausting. I worked constantly; probably too much, and pushed myself and others to go above and beyond, sometimes at the cost of balance. When I eventually decided to leave the program after five years, I had no money, no plan, and had to move back home. For a while, I drove for Uber Eats to get by while figuring out what came next. It was humbling and uncertain, especially as my parents were going through health challenges at the same time.

But those experiences reshaped how I see life and work. They taught me resilience, humility, and the value of redefining success on my own terms. Even now, I face challenges balancing passion with pace, wanting to give everything to what I do without burning out. I think that’s a lifelong lesson most people can relate to.

As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
In simple terms, my work focuses on digitizing real-world experiences. I’ve built systems that recreate human senses like sight, sound, touch, and even smell – inside virtual environments. Some of my early projects explored multisensory interfaces, like simulating scent through a “Smell Engine” or using haptics to make digital objects feel like they have weight and texture. These experiments helped me understand how deeply connected our senses are to memory, emotion, and storytelling.

Today, a lot of my work centers on using AI and VR/AR to recreate past moments and transform everyday media—like photos or videos—into immersive, walkable memories. I’m fascinated by the possibilities this opens for education, creativity, and human connection. There are exciting opportunities, but also ethical questions about how we use these tools responsibly, especially as we explore ways to preserve and relive personal experiences.

At Arizona State University’s Dreamscape Learn, I help design and build frameworks and experiences that power large-scale VR learning environments. Thousands of students use our virtual biology, chemistry, and astronomy experiences each week. My role bridges creative design and engineering, I help build tools and systems that make these stories possible and also help craft the experiences themselves. Beyond ASU, I contribute to Chaotic Curiosity, a small creative studio where we explore how education, art, and AI can come together to create new forms of storytelling.

Some of my proudest moments include developing training tools for astronauts during my time at NASA, building the Smell Engine during my PhD, and prototyping new systems that make VR education accessible and affordable for teachers and students.

What probably sets me apart is that I can’t help but step back and look at the bigger system behind whatever I’m working on. I’m wired to ask how things connect, how they could be faster, smarter, or more useful, not just for myself, but for the people using them after me. That mindset led me to build tools for others even when I didn’t have to, whether it was at NASA, in the lab, or now at ASU. I get fixated on bridging technologies that don’t usually talk to each other and turning ideas into working systems that people can actually use.

I also take it personally—maybe too personally—when I feel like the things I’m building aren’t helping anyone. That sense of responsibility keeps me up at night, but it’s also what drives me to keep pushing, learning, and finding better ways to merge creativity and engineering.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with our readers who might just be starting out?
I don’t think I have any new advice that hasn’t been said before, but I can share a few things that really shaped how I think and work. These are three pieces of advice I was given at different points in my life that still guide me today.

1. Who you know is important, but who knows of you is even more important.
Building relationships and expanding your network will always open doors, but just as important is the impression you leave on people. Be someone others remember for your integrity, curiosity, or work ethic. The way you treat people tends to echo far beyond what you realize, and often, opportunities come from people who’ve simply heard good things about how you carry yourself.

2. Don’t say no to yourself. That’s someone else’s job.
For a long time, I held myself back; worried I wasn’t ready or qualified enough to reach out, ask questions, or take a risk. But once I realized I was rejecting myself before anyone else even had the chance to, things started changing. Whether it’s sending that email, joining a project, or just saying yes to something that scares you, let other people decide if it’s a no. Most of the time, you’ll be surprised by how many doors open just because you asked.

3. Remember that most of what stresses us out isn’t actually real.
That doesn’t mean it doesn’t feel real, it means it’s built from human-made systems: school, careers, titles, expectations. They’re frameworks we live in, not absolute truths. When you start to recognize that, it becomes easier to separate what really matters: your growth, your relationships, your curiosity. _Tune out the noise_. It helps you see that there’s no “right” timeline or single definition of success.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alirezabahremand.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bahremand/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alirezabahremand/
• Twitter: https://www.instagram.com/bahremand/

Image Credits
IIn the picture with the gloves, that is technology made by Easton LaChappelle at Unlimited Tomorrow