Alexander Bronstein

Alex (Alexander) Bronstein (born 28 May 1980) is a Russian-born Israeli-Italian computer scientist, electrical engineer, inventor, technology entrepreneur and angel investor. He is a professor at the Institute of Science and Technology Austria (ISTA) and a professor at the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. His research spans non-rigid geometry and shape analysis, computer vision, computational imaging, machine learning, and applications of machine learning to the natural and life sciences. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and of the European Laboratory for Learning and Intelligent Systems (ELLIS). He has co-founded and held technical leadership roles in technology companies including Novafora, VideoCites, Embryonics and Sibylla. He is also an angel investor in early-stage technology companies, including AKA Foods and the Italian machine-learning company Paradigma.

Bronstein joined the School of Electrical Engineering at Tel Aviv University in 2010, first as an assistant professor and later as an associate professor. In October 2025, after the university's academic senate adopted a motion concerning relations with Israeli institutions and researchers supporting policies of the Israeli government, Bronstein publicly criticized the measure and offered to return the compensation he had received for his earlier teaching in Cagliari. Speaking in Cagliari on International Holocaust Remembrance Day in January 2026, he later connected the episode to concerns about academic freedom and political radicalization, while also expressing concern about internal division and moral erosion in Israel.

Research

Non-rigid geometry and three-dimensional vision

Bronstein's early research focused on mathematical and computational methods for analyzing deformable three-dimensional objects. With Michael Bronstein and Ron Kimmel, he worked on geometric approaches to non-rigid shape comparison and recognition. This line of research was summarized in their 2008 book Numerical Geometry of Non-Rigid Shapes.

An early application was three-dimensional face recognition. In 2003, Alex and his identical twin brother Michael demonstrated geometric face-recognition methods using their own faces as a difficult test case. The work received international press coverage and helped draw attention to the use of 3D surface geometry for recognition.

Bronstein's later research broadened to computer vision, machine learning, signal processing, inverse problems and computational imaging. His group has applied these methods to modalities including medical ultrasound, magnetic resonance imaging, radar and electrical impedance tomography.

Technology and entrepreneurship

Bronstein has combined academic research with work in technology companies. He held a technical leadership role at the Silicon Valley video-technology company Novafora, where he served as a scientist and vice president of video technology.

Angel investment

Bronstein is an angel investor in early-stage technology companies. CB Insights identifies him as an individual angel investor in AKA Foods, whose $17.2 million 2025 financing round was led by Alex and Michael Bronstein. He also serves as Chief Scientist of AKA Foods.

Awards and honors

2012 – Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research, Wolf Foundation. 2013 – European Research Council Starting Grant.

Selected works