2021 Projects

ATLAS Team

Mary Etta West, Eldy Lazaro Vasquez, Netta Ofer,
Shanel Wu

Smart Biofoam, made from gelatin, glycerin, and dish soap, aims to reduce the number of unsustainable materials—such as polystyrene and polyurethane—needed for reliability testing. The smart biofoam can be molded, layered, extruded, sewn, cut, or laser engraved.

Affiliation: University of Colorado, Boulder (USA)

BI/O (Runner Up)

Jessica Smith, Charlotte Böhning, Mary Lempres

BI/Ome is a drop-in solution for the Google Nest Mini that uses living microorganisms and stored carbon to create durable and home-compostable external hardware.

Affiliation: Pratt Institute (USA)

Bio-Computational Composite UniAndes

Pablo Campuzano, Agoston Walter, Diego Hernandez

The project opens a dialogue between composting communities of Bogotá, Colombia and the bacterial decomposers of the compost ecosystem. It proposes using the electricity produced by bacteria to bridge the divide between ecosystems and electronics.

Affiliation: Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)

BIT

Jierui Fang, Ana Lucia Martínez Toledo

The project replaced the plastic components of a phone with algae-based bioplastics.

Affiliation: Stanford University, Universidad de los Andes (USA, Colombia)

Byochance

Mubashir Akhtar, Ceren Sözer, Cristina Colosi, Lojain Rafaa, Zati-Hazira Ismail

Elabs Service is a product iteration process inspired by nature's evolution, which is continuous, distributed, cumulative, and circular.

Affiliation: University of Huddersfield, Politecnico di Milano, University of Technology, Malaysia, ELISAVA Barcelona School of Design and Engineering (UK, Italy, Malaysia, Spain)

Certified Earth Lovers

Keyanna Nurse, Jaiden Morris, Nabria Jackson

CEL Pak provides educational tools that can help future scientists and designers to research biomaterials for electronics. The "Certified Earth Lover's pack" (CEL Pak) includes supplies that will guide students through hands-on educational activities.

Affiliation: FirstHand + AULA Future (USA)

IceBurghs

Genevieve Johnson, Sumairha Mumtaz Choudhary, Fatima Salehbhai, Mohsen Ferdosi

The project proposes using papier mache as an alternative to the post-consumer plastic currently used for outer enclosures and internal plastic components of the Google Nest and Home.

Affiliation: Carnegie Mellon University (USA)

Mobius (Winner)

Connie Cheng, Alexander Le, Avantika Velho

Mobius imagines a microbial chitin PCB and a cyclical system for its production and disposal.

Affiliation: Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, Cambridge University (USA, UK)

Natura

Ariyana Rayatt, Connor Newstead, Anna Staub, Alex Olivares Solis

The team proposes a flame retardant for microprocessors that uses lignin, a natural renewable source obtainable from various waste streams, as an alternative to current flame retardants which are detrimental to health and the planet.

Affiliation: University College London, University of Surrey (UK)

NuVu Team 1

Schuyler Johnson, Nate Besthoff, Evan Johnston, Jeremy Nierenberg, Coffy Lessig

The team created a bioplastic for alternative PCB material made of gelatin, glycerin, and water.

Affiliation: NuVu Studio High School (USA)

NuVu Team 2 (Finalist)

Elijah Rhyne, Amiyr Ahmad, Aveen Nagpal

Bioplastick proposes a sustainable PCB alternative composed of paper pulp, bioresin adhesive, and fungal substrates. At the end of use, the board can be reclaimed, have its components easily removed, and the board itself can be planted into soil to grow mushrooms

Affiliation: NuVu Studio High School (USA)

Rhomb (Finalist)

Jiwon Woo, Jenn Kim, Cedric-Pascal Sommer, Austin Ledzian

Google Next uses topology optimization to reduce plastic by 74% in Google Nest Audios. The team chose a 3D-printed biobased thermoset material for their alternative structure. The device is designed to be disassembled and repaired.

Affiliation: Harvard University (USA)

Hemobond

Emris Brandt, Savannah Bell, Vivi Niya Gao, Ethan Proia, Audrey Nguyen, Hwiy Chang

HemoBond is a biodegradable electronics adhesive that uses an engineered elastin variant derived from polypeptides.

Affiliation: School of the Art Institute of Chicago (USA)

Pur-do Good

Alexis Tran, Bruno Bertolo, Jie Chen, Justin Mamaril, Lauren Para

Using fabrics made from cellulose acetate (found in bagasse from sugarcane), the team proposed stitching components into phones. At a device’s end of its life, the stitches can be removed, making it easy to reclaim components for a second life or material extraction.

Affiliation: Purdue University (USA)

Techno Koalas

Joseph Yap, Shimroth John Thomas, Lezhou Shen

Circular Circuitry is a redesigned PCB that could be recycled using technology that leverages bacteria to recover metals.

Affiliation: Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology (Australia)

The Boys

Varun Mehta, Zoe Lee, Annie Chen, Benjamin Phelps, Emilia Mann

ReCell is a biodegradable biocomposite PCB made from layers of silk laminate bonded by a cellulose acetate matrix. The PCB is then covered by an etched copper circuit layer and hardware components.

Affiliation: Rhode Island School of Design, Brown University (USA)

Alt Labs

Megan Valanidas, Maria Alexia, Rives Matson

Inter-Tidal Ware channels living systems as a model for closing the circularity loop. They propose a device subscription model that is access-based and offers consumers a way to engage with new materials and emerging biotechnology.

Affiliation: Altimeter Labs (USA)

AULA Future

Marco Locatelli, Genefer Baxter

The project proposes a biometric wearable that measures primary health parameters in order to prevent unnecessary illnesses. This new textile material can detect amino acids, metabolites, and other primary biomarkers from sweat for health monitoring.

Affiliation: AULA Future (Germany)

BioLiloLab

Eduardo Padilha, Mauricio Jabur, Lina Lopes, Paulina Cho, Anais Karenin, Carolina Puppe

BioVolt is a flexible and conductive biological material that can be transformed into electronic textiles and wearables with several different applications, such as photovoltaics, biomedical sensors, communication devices, and others.

Affiliation: BioLiloLab (Brazil)

Biotronic (Finalist)

Helio Takai, Cindie Kehlet, Russel Robertson, Jeanne Pfordresher

Google Harvest is a system where reclaimed e-waste is fused with a new biodegradable polymer (using a bioadhesive they developed) to create a recyclable circuit board

Affiliation: Pratt Institute, City University of New York (USA)

B:o Buttons

Sasha Fishman, Jil Berenblum, Emily Gordin, Cecilia Chen, Miranda Shou

The project proposes a genetically engineered mycelium biocomposite shell to replace plastic casings in Google’s hardware. The shell material could live off of environmental radiation and would be self-healing and compostable.

Affiliation: Pratt Institute, New York University, Columbia University (USA)

Boslab

Wasil Ahmed, Wendy Pouliot, Kellen Andrilenas, John Harrold, Kate Reed, Frank Lee

Slimeboard proposes extruding or bioprinting wires made of Physarum Polycephalum (also known as slime mold) using a syringe. The wire-like Physarum can then transmit electronic signals and act as a replacement for traditional wires in electronic circuit boards.

Affiliation: BOSLab (USA)

Brave Crocodiles (Runner Up)

Kenza Samlali, Osheen Harruthoonyan, Ananda Gabo

The team proposed a waste stream database for sustainable sourcing of raw materials and bioremediation. As a case study, the team tracked the bioremediation of leather tanning waste streams in India.

Affiliation: Concordia University, Culture² (Canada)

Costa

Silvana Moiceanu, Francia Ramirez, Saul Villegas, Moises Hernandez

The team proposed including bacterial strains in products to encourage bioremediation and fight toxic PHA byproducts.

Affiliation: Fashion Institute of Technology, University of California, Santa Cruz, Central Saint Martins (USA, UK)

DeForma

Patrizia Bolzan, Flavia Papile, Stefano Parisi, Barbara Pollini

The team designed a smart and responsive curtain system that can sense the environment and respond to it through vocal control. Shadow is made of bacterial cellulose obtained from kombucha fermentation.

Affiliation: Politecnico di Milano (Italy)

Electric Eels

Nada Elkharashi, Sequoia Fischer, Catherine Euale, Paige Perillat Piratoine

The project imagines a self-charging skin for a speculative phone: the Pixel Bio. It would be assembled in multiple layers that provide the environment and surface area necessary to generate electricity from ambient air.

Affiliation: BioCurious, Just One Giant Lab (Canada, France, USA, Qatar)

Global Listening

Sara Nejad, Celeste Rose, Wiena Lin, Max Lauter, Chris Lunney, Tess Adams

The Material Provenance Project explores a better system to track the provenance of device parts and their material origins. They imagined using DNA implanted in materials as a storage unit to contain information.

Affiliation: New York University, New York Times, Columbia University, Newlab, Simons Foundation, Parsons School of Design, Pratt Institute (USA)

Grow Your Own Cloud

Cyrus Clarke, Monika Seyfried, Manini Bannerji, Laura Salter

ReGen proposes a system where electronics can be powered by Geobacter bacteria, found in wastewater and organic waste compounds, from the comfort of your own home.

Affiliation: Rhode Island School of Design, Grow Your Own Cloud Research Organization (USA, France)

Happy

Henry Tan, Thanakrit Wongsatit, Prompt Suathim

The Happy Ending Project proposes a chitin-based coating for nanocellulose or plant-based PCBs. The coating is polymerized and thermally cured to create a hydrophobic surface. At the end of life stage, voice activation will trigger an enzyme to digest the coating, preparing the PCB for a biodegrading process.

Affiliation: Freaklab, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (Thailand, Korea)

Printmaking Biominerals

Alison Dell, Ricky Solorzano, Safa Mehrjui

The project envisions using silk screening to print and grow highly controlled patterns of bio-concrete crystals using the bacteria S. Pasteurii. These bio-concrete phone frames would regenerate when cracked or broken and can be made into any pattern using the silk screening technique.

Affiliation: St. Francis College, Biorealize, Pratt Institute (USA)

SED (Finalist)

Daniela Esponda, Edoardo Montesi, Susan Okerstrom

SED proposes using water hyacinths for the “micro-mining” of polluted waters to collect copper for circuitry. The team ran tests to see how well water hyacinth roots could mine for copper.

Affiliation: BiomimicryMex, Universidad Autónoma de México, University of Minnesota, Minnesota Microscopy Society, Northern Lakes Scientific Advisory Panel (Mexico, USA)

Team Genspace Six

Jeremy Hoffman, Annick Saralegui, Tammy Qui, Jehovani Lopez, Tricia Wang, Ibrahim Aldulijan

Revive.it is a biodegradable, easily-made biomaterial used for packaging. It is inspired by the natural composition of seaweed and contains both alginate and cellulose.

Affiliation: Genspace (USA)

The Flora Hall 4

Andrew Pelling, Eric Chan, David Gourevitch, Alvaro Vargas

The Bio-Net of Things proposes collecting and aggregating our bio-data, which would be provided to an AI to provide more relevant health and lifestyle recommendations.

Affiliation: University of Ottawa (Canada)