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Biodesign Challenge Summit
June 20–24, 2022
Broadcast live on YouTube
2022 Biodesign Challenge Keynote Presentations and Award Ceremony
Live Broadcast with Dan Grushkin, Veena Vijayakumar, Jessica Smith, Alex Kisielewski
2022 Outstanding Social Critique Prize to: Robeson High School, Aula Future, and FirstHand for their project Sista-Sis Biodoula Services
As an artist who critically engages with the interconnectedness of cultural and biomedical systems, I’m very honored to present the Outstanding Social Critique Prize today. This award is a crucial part of the competition in that it recognizes the impact of biotechnologies on our everyday lives and the values embedded in the processes of creating them. This year there were so many powerful socially engaged projects that considered the difficult realities of the present while imagining a better future through biodesign. The Outstanding Social Critique Prize is awarded to the team that best explores and most clearly communicates a criticism of biotechnology through a social lens. The team’s project addresses the positive and negative effects of a technology or system on users and nonusers, potential societal reactions to these effects, and ways to mitigate negative ones. It is my great pleasure to present the 2022 Outstanding Social Critique Prize to: Robeson High School, Aula Future, and FirstHand for their project Sista-Sis Biodoula Services. Sista-Sis is a speculative, community-supported doula service that includes mRNA biotherapies created in response to disproportionate maternal mortality rates among African-American women. The judges were impressed by how this team looked ahead to the future while recognizing mistakes of the past and leveraging the wisdom of ancestors. Their project considered a number of critical issues in healthcare in the age of biotechnology including systemic racism, bioethics, genetic privacy, bodily autonomy, and self-determination. Through a unique combination of ancient healthcare traditions and modern biotechnology, their project prioritizes community building and trust to create a generative support system and complex network invested in the health of black women. Congratulations to the entire Sista Sis team!
- Social Critique Prize Presented by artist Laura Splan to Sista-Sis Biodoula Services
OVERALL WINNER MUST(T)GO
Universidad de Los Andes: Laura María Delgado, Lina MaríaMoros, Julián Oviedo Blanco, María Paula Osorio
RUNNER UP
MOSQUITOES AND LEMONS
CaliforniaCollege of the Arts: Zahra Jajarmikhayat
OUTSTANDING PRESENTATION BIO-BALLOONS
Izmir University of Economics: Alara Ertenü, İdil Akünal,Zehranur Tekin, Begümnur Küçükcan, Yağmur Yeşilyurt, Mohammed Saad
OUTSTANDING SCIENCE POWERMUTUALISM
Tongji University: Keer Hu, Shuo Yuan
OUTSTANDING FIELD RESEARCHTENOCHTITLAN
Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana: Mario Castro Rosas,Dante Arellano Barrón
OUTSTANDING SOCIAL CRITIQUE SISTA-SISBIODOULA SERVICES
Robeson HS + Aula Future + FirstHand: Tahjae Garner,Michael Foreman, Sanaa Adams, Jessica Ortiz
COMMUNITY CHOICE SEX-ED
TheDesign Village: Jhanvi Tiwari, Gunjana Kharbanda, Shivani Saini
OUTSTANDING INSTRUCTOR SAMEDENS
Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences
SCIENCE SANDBOX PRIZE FOR PUBLIC ENGAGEMENTORDER OF THE BIODIVINE
ParsonsSchool of Design: Rachel Gorman, Oscar Schrag, Jessica Thies
GINKGO PRIZE FOR BIOLOGICAL FUTURES POST-ANTHROPOCENTRICVENDING MACHINES IN JAPAN
Keio University: JiaQing Chen, Nafhan Nurul, IvanaChaloska, Adam Jordan, Tan Chang, Lucas Ogasawara, Marie Munzi
Jennifer Willet is an artist, a Canada Research Chair in Art, Science, and Ecology, a Professor in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Windsor and the Director of INCUBATOR Art Lab, founded in 2009. She is a member of the College of New Scholars, Artists, and Scientists in the Royal Society of Canada. Willet is a leader in the Canadian bioart community, and works internationally as an artist and curator in the field. In 2018, Willet opened a new state-of-the-art bioart laboratory, and in 2020 a storefront bioart studio and community engagement lab in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Ani Liu is an internationally exhibiting research-based artist working at the intersection of art and science. Her work examines the reciprocal relationships between science, technology and their influence on human subjectivity, culture, and identity. Reoccurring themes in the work include gender politics, biopolitics, labor, reproduction, simulation, and sexuality. Ani's work has been exhibited internationally—including at the Venice Biennale, Ars Electronica, and Boston Museum of Fine Arts—and has been featured on National Geographic, VICE, TED, Core77, WIRED and more. Ani is passionate about integrating multidisciplinary approaches to art making, and is currently an Associate Professor of Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Ani has previously taught at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, Princeton University, Columbia University, and is on critique panels at Harvard, Dartmouth, MIT, University of Pennsylvania, NYU, UNC Charlotte, Pratt, and Parsons.
Sunanda Sharma is a creative biologist and interdisciplinary scientist interested in questions of astrobiology, evolution, ecology, biodiversity, origin of life, and artificial life. As a designer, she practices biodesign motivated by non-human and non-Earth centric perspectives. She completed her PhD and MS at the MIT Media Lab as part of The Mediated Matter Group, led by Prof. Neri Oxman.
Ginkgo Prize for Biological Futures presented by Grace Chuang
Science Sandbox Prize for Public Engagement presented by John Tracey
Outstanding Instructor presented by BDC
Community Choice presented by BDC
Outstanding Presentation presented by Leslie Atzmon
Outstanding Field Research presented by Zoe Powell Best
Outstanding Science presented by Justice T. Walker
Outstanding Social Critique presented by Laura Splan
Onye Ahanotu
Nathan Allen
Leslie Atzmon
Anuja Bagul
Chazman Childers
Grace Chuang
Carrie Cizauskas
Victoria Colangelo
Amy Congdon
Alison Cutlan
Joanne Deluca
Ben Doranz
Jestin George
Douglas Goodwin
Phil Gough
Gigi Gronvall
Denise Hoffman Brandt
Karen Hogan
Ryan Hoover
Karen Ingram
Julia Kaganskiy
Nancy J Kelley
Svenja Keune
Minji Kim
Todd Kuiken
Jiabao Li
Ani Liu
Margaret MacDonald
Lisa Margonelli
Melissa Marra-Alvarez
Angela McQuillan
Yves Michel
William Myers
Naomi Nakayama
Ann Neumann
Amanda Obidike
David O'Brochta
Carolina Obregón
Emma Osore
Jeanne Pfordresher
Zoë Powell Best
Sukanya Punthambaker
Hannah Star Rogers
Alie Rose
Jason Schupbach
Ravi Sheth
Elena Soterakis
Laura Splan
Sabriya Stukes
Corinne Takara
Orkan Telhan
Justice Toshiba Walker
Beth Tuck
Harris Wang
Peter Yeadon
Andrew Yip
