SUMMIT 2021

Final Day, Awards + Speakers (June 25, 2021)

BDC Summit 2021 was broadcast online for an entire week from June 21st - 25th. It featured student videos, live Q & A's with judges, speakers, and more.

WELCOME LETTER FROM BDC’S EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

VIEW THE BDC SUMMIT 2021 MIRO BOARD

VIEW THE LIST OF 2021 SCHOOLS

Day 1 (June 21, 2021)

Day 2 (June 22, 2021)

Day 3 (June 23, 2021)

Overall Winner Re-Form: Reformation of Thermoforming Materials

College for Creative Studies, Detroit: Joseph Cardenas, Sarah Craven

Outstanding Presentation Dirty Playground

Design Academy Eindhoven: Manuel Steitz, Coltrane Mcdowell, Serina Tarkhanian

Outstanding Field Research lIXILAB

Universidad de los Andes: Valentina Pérez Escobar, María Alejandra Parra García, María Valentina Forero Sierra, Lina Natalia Sánchez Medina, Laura Camila Velasco Ortega, Daniela Julieth Barón Gutiérrez

Community Choice SPOIL

The Design Village: Tanish Agrawal, Arshad Bajil Kuttasseri, Kunika Sharma, Natasha Singh

Science Sandbox Prize for Public Engagement Biotech PalEtero Cart

Nest Makerspace: Camilla Cabrera, Austin Henry, Roberto Mendoza, Alec Saldana-jauregui, Samuel Gil-silva

Runner Up Sub·ver·sive /səbˈvərsiv/ - BioFashion for Black LivesS

Spelman College: Mika Campbell, Grace Burch. Abigail Gordon, Savannah Adams

Outstanding Science DipWrap

Aalto University: Ena Naito, Louise Kallai, Emilia Ikävalko, Sari Kupiainen

Outstanding Social Critique River Defenders

Ball State University: Dominic Zelli, Jonathan Alexander, Ashlyn Sterling, Erin Mawhorter

It is a compilation of projects and ideas that are influencing the emerging field of biodesign. Pioneers and BDC alumni explore the future of biodesign and its role in shaping people’s identities, cultures, and relationships with the living environment.

Pre-order a book, donate one to a school, receive cool rewards, or just show your support by July 20 through Kickstarter.

Summit Speakers

Dr. Janina Jeff is the first African American to graduate with a Ph.D. in Human/Medical Genetics from Vanderbilt University. She also received a Master’s degree in Applied Statistics from Vanderbilt University and a Bachelor’s degree in Biology and Spanish minor from Spelman. After her Ph.D., she pursued postdoctoral training in the labs of Eimear Kenny, Ph.D. and Erwin Bottinger, MD at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Her research career was focused on population genetics, specifically studying complex and admixed populations (descendants with African ancestry) and discovering population-specific genetic risk factors of common disease.

She is currently a senior bioinformatics scientist at Illumina where she creates population informed genotyping arrays. In addition to her work in genetics she is also a science journalist with her podcast, In Those Genes, an international award-winning podcast that uses genetics to decode the lost histories and futures of African descendants. Episodes can be found on Spotify, Apple, and all major podcasting apps.

Kathy High is an internationally renowned interdisciplinary artist/educator who collaborates with scientists and activists, and considers living systems, animal sentience, and ethical dilemmas of biotechnology and medical industries. She is Head of the Arts Department and Professor of Video and New Media and oversees a laboratory in the biotech center at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY. She is a supporter of community DIY science and ecological art practices and is Project Coordinator for NATURE Lab Urban Environmental Education Center with The Sanctuary for Independent Media. She is committed to queer and feminist approaches to reshaping ecological bio-science research and learning-by-doing, and to collaborations with our local communities.

Lisa Margonelli is Senior Editor at Issues in Science and Technology. She is the author of Oil on the Brain: Petroleum’s Long Strange Trip to Your Tank (2007) and Underbug: An Obsessive Tale of Termites and Technology (2018). Her work has appeared in The Atlantic, Wired, Slate’s Future Tense, Pacific Standard, New York Times, Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, and San Francisco Chronicle, among other publications. Formerly the Editor in Chief of Zócalo Public Square, she wrote about energy policy at the New America Foundation from 2006-2012. She lives in Maine.