NEWS
Aug 14, 2023 BInD Lab welcomes Varenya Sethumadhavan to the team !
Varenya Sethumadhavan is pursuing her Master of Science in Biotechnology at Northeastern University. Her undergraduate research, “Investigation of C-Phycocyanin as a Dye for DNA Staining,” won the “D. Ganesan Award for Best Biotechnology Undergraduate Project” at PSG College of Technology, where she finished her bachelor’s degree in biotechnology. In an effort to learn more, She did her internship at the Sugarcane Breeding Institute (ICAR), where she was trained in molecular biology tools and techniques. She also provided input on a brief project that outlined an Oxibeat App, which is used to measure blood glucose levels.
Email: sethumadhavan.v@northeastern.edu
Linkedin : Link
Aug 7, 2023 BInD Lab welcomes Manini Banerjee to the team !
Manini Banerjee (She/Her) is a biodesigner and researcher. She is currently designing products that make sustainable futures and technologies accessible. As a research assistant at Silklab, she develops systems with material intelligence that dynamically sequester and sense inorganic anthropogenic toxins.
Manini has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), where she is trained as a human + nature-centric industrial designer with concentrations in computation and sustainability studies. She was a grant recipient for the inaugural Somerson Sustainability Innovation Grant, a TEDx speaker, and has worked at the Hyundai HQ as a robotics researcher.
Manini was born and brought up in Singapore. She dreams of a world where design creates conditions conducive to life and follows the laws of natural selection. She enjoys reading, exploring diverse cuisines, making lattes, and hanging out in her indoor jungle.
Jul 19 , 2024 New Publication: Designing with Printed Responsive Biomaterials
We are excited to announce the publication of our paper, “Designing with Printed Responsive Biomaterials: A Review,” co-authored by K. Zolotovsky and Laia Mogas Soldevila. The paper is featured in the 3D Printing and Additive Manufacturing journal, as part of a special issue on Biobased Design, guest edited by Athina Papadopoulou, PhD.
This review explores how printed responsive biomaterials (PRBs) can be integrated into everyday objects and buildings to enhance environmental and human health. We review material systems that interact with their environments through biological, chemical, or physical processes, including self-healing, health diagnostics, pathogen neutralization, adjustable stiffness, strain detection, threat visualization, shapeshifting, toxin trapping, stress correction, waste processing, and energy generation.
Read the full paper here: Link
Jul 11 , 2024 “Filaments of Life” the MA Biodesign Graduate Showcase at Central Saint Martins, London, UK
Dr. Zolotovsky invited to the private view of “Filaments of Life” the MA Biodesign Graduate Showcase at Central Saint Martins, London, UK
Jun 7 , 2024 Dr. Zolotovsky Delivers Talk at Northumbria University’s Living Construction Group
Dr. Zolotovsky invited to the private view of “Filaments of Life” the MA Biodesign Graduate Showcase at Central Saint Martins, London, UK
Jun 4 , 2024 Dr. Zolotovsky Invited for Research Visit to ENSAPLV and MAACC Lab
Dr Zolotovsky invited for a research visit at Ecole Nationale Superieure d’Architecture de Paris-La Villette (ENSAPLV), as well as Le laboratoire de Modélisations pour l’Assistance à l’Activité Cognitive de la Conception (MAACC)
Apr 2 , 2024 New Book Chapter Published: Bioprinted Buildings
We are excited to announce the publication of a new book chapter titled “Bioprinted Buildings: Nature’s Materials & Strategies in Additively Manufactured Architectures,” featured in the open access book AM Perspectives: Research in Additive Manufacturing for Architecture and Construction.
Authored by K. Zolotovsky and Laia Mogas-Soldevila, this chapter (pages 19-26) explores emergent research in bioprinted buildings, focusing on materiality and nature’s material growth strategies. The book, co-edited by Laia Mogas Soldevila and Bruno Figueiredo, is now available in both PDF and paperback formats.
- Full Book Available: PDF | Paperback
- Citation: Zolotovsky, K. and Mogas-Soldevila, L. (2023). Bioprinted Buildings: Nature’s Materials & Strategies in Additively Manufactured Architectures. AM Perspectives: Research in Additive Manufacturing for Architecture and Construction (pp.19-26). SOAP Stichting OpenAccess Platforms. ISBN: 9789083386188. https://doi.org/10.47982/a82n7r50
Jul 17, 2024 BInD Lab welcomes Avantika Velho as a Research Assistant
Avantika Velho is an interdisciplinary designer from India passionate about designing accessible, sustainable future technologies. As a scale agnostic designer, she has designed things across several scales, including regenerative urban systems for future cities, institutional food-waste reuse systems, lunar dust mitigation technologies, hydrophobic surface architectures inspired by insect wings, and numerous physical/digital products and experiences as well as various biomaterials for clients like CVS Health, Google, NASA, Hyundai, and Kia Motors. Avantika graduated with honors from the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) with a bachelor’s degree in Industrial Design and a concentration in Nature-Culture-Sustainability Studies (’22). She has been awarded the Rachel Carson Environmental Award by RISD in recognition of her devotion to sustainable design.
Apr 2 , 2024 Talk at Biodynamic Environments Symposium
The symposium will focus on rethinking making and manufacturing processes, reducing carbon footprint and adopting circular economies through advances on materials and use of bioactive material properties. Participants will approach health holistically through an exploration centered on biobased materials and on environmental interactions that enhance health and wellbeing. What are biodynamic environments in the context of design and architecture? How do we design for healthier and therapeutic spatial interactions? How do we educate towards healthier futures through designing and making?
Event Link: https://www.nyit.edu/events/biodynamic_environments
Lecture recording: Link
Apr 18 , 2024 CAMD Climate and Environmental Justice Lightning Talks
Dr. Zolotovsky participates at CAMD Climate and Environmental Justice Lightning Talks
Apr 9 , 2024 Critical Making for Adaptive Futures Class Exhibition
On April 9, 2024, the Center for Design hosted an exhibition for the “Critical Making for Adaptive Futures: Interactions, Materials, Ecologies” class, taught by Dr. Zolotovsky with guest workshops by Saurabh Mhatre and included insightful reviews from distinguished experts:
- Athina Papadopoulou, PhD (Assistant Professor of Architecture, Health, and Design at NYIT)
- Cagri Zaman, PhD (Director of MIT Virtual Experience Design Lab)
- Nil Tuzcu (Senior Designer & Lecturer, Harvard Grow Lab).
The exhibition provided a platform for innovative design discussions and showcased cutting-edge work at the intersection of interactions, materials, and ecologies.
Dec 6 , 2023 Dr. Zolotovsky gives a talk at the Super Synbio Group meeting run by College of Bioengineering – Bioactive material systems: Toward large-scale design and architecture applications
The demand for sustainable, responsive, and context-interactive products is inspiring engineers and designers to turn to nature where these design features are abundant. In contrast to human-made constructions, nature’s solutions do not require manufacturing, transport, or assembly of individual parts, and energy production and waste management are self-contained. Once effectively harnessed, these features could present ample opportunities for disruptive everyday use technologies. In addition, recent advances in biological materials manufacturing, synthetic biology, and materials science present a new era of olfactory, colorimetric, tactile, and multi-sensory interactions embedded in objects. This research combines science and design methods to develop material systems that interact with their surroundings throughout their lifespan by means of biochemical processes deriving functions desirable in human products and constructions: self-healing, health diagnostics, pathogen detection, toxin trapping, stress correction, waste processing, communication, energy generation etc. The presentation will showcase recent work with embedding interaction in biopolymers – bacterial cellulose, blends of chitin, silk, and alginate as well as environmental bioremediation with fungal mycelium and wetland plants, scaling up for applications in materials, products, and architecture. Current work with cell-free systems and future plans for scaling up Engineered Living Materials will be discussed.
Nov 1 , 2023 BInD Lab welcomes Saurabh Mhatre as a Research Scientist
Saurabh Mhatre is joining a Research Scientist at BioInteractive Design Lab at Northeastern University. He was a Senior Research Associate in the Material Processes and Systems Group (MaP+S) and the Center for Green Buildings and Cities at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. He did his Masters in Design Technology at the Harvard Graduate School of Design, where he graduated with distinction, and his thesis was titled “Embedded Materiality: Super Absorbent Polymers in Architecture.” He received a Bachelor of Architecture from BSSA, NMIMS University in Mumbai. His work situated at the intersection of design and science, combines aesthetics with analytical thinking to drive innovation and solve complex problems.
He has worked on projects dealing with the 3D printing of ceramic and concrete, deployable mechanisms, origami robots, smart and phase changing materials, and folding robots in collaboration with Harvard GSD, Harvard SEAS, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, and the Autodesk Build Space. He is passionate about fabrication, robotics, AI, digital art and photography.