Welcome Letter from BDC’s Executive Director

Dear Friends,

As we begin Biodesign Challenge Summit 2023, I want to thank you all for being on this adventure with us. Summit week is the most exciting moment of the year for the BDC team. Every Summit is a lift for us, but this time around it’s even more so. The last time we held the program in person was in 2019—what feels like a lifetime ago. We’ve had to relearn how to organize the event and then find ways to outdo ourselves. I want to thank our students, instructors, mentors, speakers, judges, supporters, and community members for being part of this effort. I couldn’t be more excited! 

Instructors—I want to acknowledge your perseverance. We recognize that when the world feels as unsteady as it has, you go beyond solely teaching the subject, and offer stability, support, and a model for your students. Teaching biodesign, something that is new for many, takes bravery and a leap of faith. Your students are here today because of your belief, hard work, and determination. Thank you for your leadership year after year. 

Judges—You’ve flown in from all over the world to be with us. We task you with the impossible—to work together and choose between so many varying and excellent projects. We ask you to review speculations alongside working prototypes. We mix question-asking and solution-offering projects. We mix high school and college students. And then we invite you into a room to debate their merits and pick winners. The work that you do both inside and outside the judges room offers a real-life model for decision-making around the future of technology in society. You come with many different perspectives, but every year you come to a consensus. Thank you. 

Students—Where does one even start? You were born into a world on fire. Then we, older folks, come and say, “You’re about to inherit this thing. Can you fix it?” The task is so inherently unfair, but every year you come to this program with open minds and open hearts, and you have shown us new possibilities. This program is ultimately about you: everyone comes here as your fans to support you, to offer guidance, to help in all the ways we can. Thank you for your work. The stage is yours. 

We create our technologies as tools to make the task of being human easier and more meaningful. If they don’t do either of these, I question their value. We’re in a moment in history where the creators of technology openly declare that their latest advances pose new existential risks to humanity. I’m of course talking about artificial intelligence. How does an engineer go to work every morning and think, “This one is going to do a real number on humankind?” It baffles me. 

Of course, it’s not that simple. But also maybe it is. In your lives, people are going to ask you to use your skills, efforts, and imaginations to work on things that you might not believe in. I can’t presume to know your individual situations, though I imagine that there will be many pressures on you to comply. All I ask is that you take a moment to imagine the alternatives before you make your decision. In its essence, BDC is an effort to offer people opportunities for foresight so that they can choose to apply new technologies wisely. While BDC focuses on biotech, the lessons apply universally: by planning for the future, by mapping our course, by tying tomorrow’s technologies to a more equitable, more environmentally conscious future, we defy the pervasive cynicism and hopelessness around us.  

With all the uncertainty, strife, and pessimism that we see out there, let this space be one that acknowledges us, fosters us, encourages us, and lifts us up. Let these moments at this Summit inspire that new idea, make that new connection, cement that collaboration, inspire a career choice, and propel us on paths full of hope and vigor. 

With my deepest gratitude,

Daniel Grushkin
Executive Director
Biodesign Challenge

June 2023