Biodesign Challenge

Throughout the spring, our organizers work with high school and college teachers to design curricula; partner participating classrooms with expert mentors in stem, art, and design; and support students with resources and mentorship as they develop their projects. Each june, participants and the general public gather at our annual summit where students showcase their research and prototypes in front of an esteemed jury made up of industry and academia professionals from around the world. Alumni of the program enter the workforce with a deep ethos in interdisciplinary collaboration, environmentally-focused design, and equity-centered systems design. Teams prototype new ideas in medicine, textiles, beauty, food, manufacturing, and more. Biodesign Challenge bridges art, design, and biotech to help develop the first generation of professionals that cross disciplines, anticipate promises and pitfalls, and engage the public in dialogue about the broader implications of emerging biotech.as part of our support for participants, we connect teams with opportunities with museums, galleries, investors, and accelerator programs. Through these connections projects have both evolved into startup companies and exhibits at venues around the world, including london design festival, museum of modern art, dutch design week, nycxdesign, mit media lab, tech museum of innovation, risd Biodesign exhibition, fit museum, the gregg, among others. Teams have also gone on to win prestigious prizes like the national geographic chasing genius award and international bioart and design award.