Biodesign NYC

Calling all New York City participants of the Biodesign Challenge! BDC is throwing an event at Kickstarter HQ just for you.

Five major universities and hundreds of students from across NYC are participating in the 2017 Challenge. Our host Kickstarter has provided its theater as a venue for us to meet each other, share ideas, and make new friends over appetizers.

The reception will include presentations from Suzanne Anker, a pioneer in the field of bioart, Nina Tandon, a scientist who 3D-prints bone, and an update from BDC’s staff.

Can’t wait to see you there!

About our Speakers

Suzanne Anker is a pioneer in Bio Art working at the intersection of art and the biological sciences. She works in a variety of mediums ranging from digital sculpture and installation to large-scale photography to plants grown by LED lights. Her work has been shown both nationally and internationally, including in the JP Getty Museum, the Pera Museum in Istanbul, and the International Biennial of Contemporary Art of Cartagena de Indias, Colombia. Her books include The Molecular Gaze: Art in the Genetic Age, co-authored with the late sociologist Dorothy Nelkin, published in 2004 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Visual Culture and Bioscience, co-published by University of Maryland and the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. Chairing SVA’s Fine Arts Department in NYC since 2005, Ms. Anker continues to interweave traditional and experimental media in her department’s new digital initiative and the SVA Bio Art Laboratory.

Nina Tandon is CEO and co-founder of EpiBone, the world’s first company growing living human bones for skeletal reconstruction. She is the co-author of Super Cells: Building with Biology, a book that explores the new frontier of biotech. She is a TED Senior Fellow, Adjunct Professor of Electrical Engineering at the Cooper Union and a former Staff Associate Postdoctoral Researcher in the Laboratory for Stem Cells and Tissue Engineering at Columbia University. She has a Bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering from the Cooper Union, a Master’s in Bioelectrical Engineering from MIT, a PhD in Biomedical Engineering, and an MBA from Columbia University. She’s been published in Nature Protocols and Lab on a Chip, has spoken three times at TED, and was named one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company.

Daniel Grushkin is founder and director of the Biodesign Challenge. He is co-founder and Executive Director of Genspace, a nonprofit community laboratory dedicated to promoting citizen science and access to biotechnology. Fast Company ranked Genspace fourth among the top 10 most innovative education companies in the world. Daniel is a Fellow at Data & Society. From 2013-2014, he was a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars where he researched synthetic biology. He was an Emerging Leader in Biosecurity at the UPMC Center of Health Security in 2014. As a journalist, he has reported on the intersection of biotechnology, culture, and business for publications including Bloomberg Businessweek, Fast Company, Scientific American and Popular Science.

Alison Irvine is an organizer of the Biodesign Challenge. She graduated from Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts with a degree in Theater and Interdisciplinary Science and studied political theater at The Freie Universität in Berlin, Germany. She received the Hunt Fellowship for her work as a theater artist creating performances that centered on the emergence of new biotechnologies and their implications in the context of social and economic inequities. She researches creative practices that engage the public with basic science and new technologies in ways that promote social reflection and ethical scientific conduct. Alison has also written articles on the intersection of art, science, and social justice for Imagine Science Films and The Center for Genetics and Society.

This event is sponsored by Kickstarter

From DIY electronics to space missions, Kickstarter helps artists, engineers, and makers of all kinds bring bold creative ideas to life. Sign-up for their Invent newsletter to stay in the loop on innovative projects and behind-the-scenes stories from the world of Design and Tech.

About Genspace

Genspace is a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting science literacy through citizen access to biotechnology. We provide educational outreach, cultural events, and a platform for science innovation at the grassroots level. We value cross-disciplinary practices and understand the significance of creating an environment in which designers, artists, and scientists can exchange new methodologies and practices, and provide a platform for collaborations, innovations, and critical dialogue.