Biodesign Challenge Summit 2025

Join us at the Museum of Modern Art and Parsons School of Design for the BDC Summit—an event that brings together university and high school teams with leading voices in art, design, and biology. 

Over two days, finalists showcase their projects before esteemed judges from academia, the arts, and industry to compete for prizes, including the coveted Glass Microbe. Teams are chosen from over 500 students from 20+ countries who worked throughout the academic year to develop their visions. 

You’re also invited to join us on the evening of June 12th for our reception celebrating the opening of a gallery exhibition of the student projects. To learn more about Biodesign Challenge, visit biodesignchallenge.org.

If the ticket cost is prohibitive but you would like to attend, please contact info@biodesignchallenge.org.

SUMMIT AGENDA 

Summit Day 1 - June 12, 8:30am – 6:00pm

Parsons School of Design | Johnson Hall

66 W 12th Street, New York, NY 10011

Opening Reception and Exhibition - June 12, 6:00pm – 8:00pm

Parsons School of Design | Arnhold Hall - Theresa Lang Center

55 W 13th Street, 2nd Floor New York, NY 10011

Summit Day 2 - June 13, 8:30am – 5:00pm

Museum of Modern Art | Titus 1 Theater

11 West 53rd Street New York, NY 10019

(Please check in at The Ronald S. and Jo Carole Lauder building entrance (MoMA Film entrance) east of the main entrance on W 53rd St.)

For more details regarding the Summit schedule visit our website by clicking here.

SPEAKERS & PERFORMERS

Eben Bayer: Co-Founder & CEO | Ecovative, MyFOREST Foods

Carolina Obregon: Assistant Professor of Fashion Design | Parsons School of Design

Sue Huang: New Media Artist & Assistant Professor of Art & Design | Rutgers University

Casey Lardner: Executive Director | Genspace

Theanne Schiros: Associate Professor of Science & Mathematics | Fashion Institute of Technology

Jonathan Meléndez-Davidson: Director of Strategy | Newlab

JUDGES

Leslie Atzmon
Remy Bernstein
Penmai Chongtoua
Will Eliot
Julian Goldman
Daniel Grushkin
Mary Kay Hickox
Karen Ingram
Alison Irvine
Virj Kan
Kyla Kasharian
Casey Lardner
Dante Lombardi
Ákos Maróy
Justin Morris-Marano
Diana Nicholas
Jeanne Pfordresher
Jake Wintermute
Elizabeth Wissinger
Peter Yeadon
Elaine Young

PARTICIPATING SCHOOLS

• Academy for Software Engineering
• Alisal High School
• Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (Netherlands)
• Auburn University
• BioBus + Brother Sister Sol
• California College of the Arts Arch
• California College of the Arts Design
• Concordia University (Canada)
• The Design Village (India)
  
• Dongseo University (South Korea)
• DreamYard Prep
• EASD Castelló (Spain)
• East Hampton High School
• Fashion Institute of Technology
• Genspace
• Grace Church School
• HKU University of the Arts Utrecht (Netherlands
  
• Indiana University
• Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey - Campus Puebla (Mexico)
• Instituto Tecnologico de Monterrey - Campus Queretaro (Mexico)
• Iowa State University
• Keio University (Japan)
• LCI Barcelona (Spain)
• Macromedia University (Germany)
• Maine College of Art and Design
• Maryland Institute College of Art
• McGill University (Canada)
• Moholy-Nagy University (Hungary)
• Nanyang Technological University (Singapore)
• New Design High School
• New York University Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)
• New York University IDM
• New York University ITP
• Northeastern University
• Northumbria University (UK)
• Parsons School of Design
• Penn State University
• Petrichor Experimental Learning (Taiwan)
• Politecnico di Milano (Italy)
• Pratt Institute
• Robert College (Turkey)
• Rutgers University
• San Francisco State University
• School of the Art Institute of Chicago
• Seoul National University (South Korea)
• Stanford University
• Stevens Institute of Technology
• Syracuse University
• University of Denmark + Royal Danish Academy (Denmark)
• UDIT Madrid (Spain)
• Universidad de los Andes (Colombia)
• Universidad del Desarrollo (Chile)
• Universidad del Istmo (Guatemala)
• University of California, Davis + Yunnan Arts University (China)
• University of Lapland (Finland)
• University of Ljubljana (Slovenia)
• University of Macau (China)
• University of Nebraska - Lincoln
• University of New Mexico
• University of Pennsylvania
• University of Richmond
• University of Texas at Austin
• Zurich University of the Arts (Switzerland)