Paulos is the founder and director of the Hybrid Ecologies Lab, an associate professor in Electrical Engineering Computer Science Department at UC Berkeley, director of the CITRIS Invention Lab, Chief Learning Officer for the Jacobs Institute for Design Innovation, and faculty within the Berkeley Center for New Media (BCNM).

Previously, Paulos held the Cooper-Siegel Associate Professor Chair in the School of Computer Science at Carnegie Mellon University where he was faculty within the Human-Computer Interaction Institute with courtesy faculty appointments in the Robotics Institute and in the Entertainment Technology Center.

Paulos is a regular contributor, editorial board member, and reviewer for numerous professional journals and conferences.

He received his PhD in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from UC Berkeley where he helped launch a new robotic industry by developing some of the first internet tele-operated robots including Space Browsing helium filled blimps and Personal Roving Presence devices (PRoPs).

Paulos is also the founder and director of the Experimental Interaction Unit and a frequent collaborator with Mark Pauline of Survival Research Laboratories.