2020 was the Biodesign Challenge’s 5th Anniversary, which I was excited to receive an invitation to be a judge for. It was inspiring to be in the company of so many creative and critical minds with a passion for thinking about the future of biotech, and present the award for the most Outstanding Presentation. Read about it in the latest Issues in Science and Technology.
Although it was sad to not be able to be together in real life at the MoMA and Parsons School of Design here in NYC where BDC is normally held, it made salient the urgency and importance of BDC’s mandate ever more prescient.
The Biodesign Challenge is: a nonprofit competition and education program that connects high school and university students with artists, designers, and biologists to critique, create, and envision the future of biotechnology. Students ideate and create designs that address topics in architecture, food, medicine, materials, fashion, and more. Each June, teams showcase their projects at the BDC Summit before a global audience, including 50 interdisciplinary judges who award the coveted Glass Microbe.
BDC’s vision is best described by Executive Director, Daniel Grushkin:
Society needs interdisciplinary thinkers to come up with the next solutions and to help understand their impacts. BDC bridges art, design, and biotech to develop the first generation of professionals who cross disciplines, anticipate promises and pitfalls, and engage the public in dialogue about the broader implications of emerging biotech.
To this end, BDC’s goals are threefold: 1) to create a community of collaboration among artists, designers, and biologists; 2) seed the first generation of biodesigners ; and 3) build meaningful public dialogue about biotech and its uses.
We invite you into our community, and hope you’ll join us in this journey.
Check out BDC’s publication, Biodesigned.
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Images: judges on zoom deliberating each category, BDC auction promotion images (BDC Grand Prize - the Glass Microbe, STING graphic silk scarf, OVAO style Amula Personalized DNA Necklace), Daniel Grushkin introducing me as I present the prize for the ‘Most Outstanding Presentation’.