Jim Murphy is a Lecturer at the New Zealand School of Music, focusing on sonic arts teaching and research. His recent research outputs focus on new mechatronic and robotic instrument design and use, and include the development of an ensemble of expressive and parametrically-rich mechatronic instruments and schemes by which composers and musicians may interface with these devices. In addition to his focus on new instrument design, Jim is an active sound artist: his kinetic sound sculptures have been shown internationally at numerous festivals, conferences, and performances

Jim was born in New Mexico and, in 2010, completed his undergraduate degree in Music Technology at the Herb Alpert School of Music at California Institute of the Arts. In 2015, he completed his Ph.D. at Victoria University of Wellington, studying under Ajay Kapur and Dale A. Carnegie. He continues to focus on exploring the interdisciplinary aspects of new musical instrument design, and is closely involved with the engineering disciplines

Jim is a member of the KarmetiK artists collective and frequently collaborates with other artists in his work. Recent collaborators include Mo H. Zareei, Daniel Belton, Dugal McKinnon, Carl Burgin, and Dimitri Diakopoulos