Manini Banerjee +
is a: (nature + human) centric designer and researcher finding symbiosis between organic and artificial life
Information | Archive
The Biopod Co.
An organization democratizing the restoration of wetlands, equipping communities worldwide to come together and save our most biodiverse and productive ecosystems
Bio - intelligence
Designing cars powered by organisms, not algorithms
TEDx
Designing living machines with biological components to reduce e-waste
Aero
Designing intelligent materials embeded on robotic drones that sense air health and sequesters toxins within a location
Chitobot
Designing technology with a perishable skin
PFV
A
vehicle inspired by living systems that facilitates a bridge between city and nature
S(kin)-orb
Enhancing human-to-human communication through personal robots
Threads
Turning clothes into computers, facilitating human-AI symbiosis to enhance productivity, creativity, and wellbeing
29.4°+4°…
Speculating human mutation in the age of global warming
Living Archives
DNA data storage as a means of Interrogating our post life digital remains
Living Materials
Designing materials that conduct ecosystem services
Robo-reparans
In the absense of humans, robots learn to take care of eachother
© 2019-2024 Manini Banerjee
Information
in·for·ma·tion
Manini Banerjee (She/Her) is an Indian-Singaporean
Interdisciplinary researcher and Biodesigner
based in Boston, MA.
Throughout her practice, she has been at the conjecture of other
disciplines and knowledge paradigms, acting as translator -
working from the scale of micro -organisms to classrooms to the scale of cities.
Manini has a BFA from the Rhode Island School of Design,
where she trained as a human+nature-centric industrial designer
with concentrations in design strategy, computation and sustainability studies.
Her work focuses on developing systems that enables the accessibility of
sustainable technologies.
WORK HISTORY
The Biopod Collective
Tufts University - SilkLab
Notheastern U - Biointeractive Surfaces Lab
MIT Media Lab - Fluid Interfaces
Hyundai Motor Group R&D HQ
Grow Your Own Cloud (GYOC)
RISD Research
RISD Nature Lab
CVS HQ x Design For America
Brown University
Design for America
Naya Studios
Co-Founder, COO
Biodesigner and Researcher
Visiting Scholar
Design Collaborator
Automotive and Robotic design
Product Design - DNA Data Storage
Grant Recipient - Living Machines
Biodesign consultant
UI/UX + Sustainable Systems design
Biomedical Device Design
Leadership + Project Management
UI/UX + Project Management
Boston, USA
Boston, USA
Boston, USA
Boston, USA
Seoul, Korea
Paris, France (Remote)
Providence, USA
Providence, USA
Providence, USA (Remote)
Providence, USA
Providence, USA
Boston, USA
EDUCATION
RISD (2019 - 2023)
BFA Industrial Design
Minors: Computation + Sustainability studies
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2023)
Course: Computing Fabrics
Brown University (2019 - 2023)
Courses: Social Impact of Emerging Technologies,
Fluid Mechanics, Biomedical Engineering Design
Harvard Business School Online (2020)
Courses: Business Analytics,
Financial Accounting, Economics for Managers
RECOGNITION
Popular Science Journal: A look at the weird intersection of taxidermy and car design
Dezeen Magazine: RISD researchers create floating mycelium pods to cleanse waterways
A+D Museums topical Exhibit explores the ‘future of space’
Exhibited Designer: New York Climate Week 2024, NewLab Startup Showcase: New Climate Futures 2024, Providence Climate Week 2024, KIA Automotive Sustainable Futures 2022, RISD Museum 2021, A+D Museum - Future of Space 2020AWARDS
Winner (Biopods): Terra Carta Design Competition for the Sustainable Markets Initiative
Grant Recipient: Somerson Sustainability Innovation Grant
Scholarship Recipient: Mary E. Wardwell Scholarship 2023
Design Award: RISD Robert O’ Neil Creativity Award 2024
Honors Designation: RISD 2020-2023
Semi-Finalist Team (GYOC): Google x Biodesign Challenge Sprint 2021
PUBLISHED WORKS
Cambridge University Press: Biopods: Co-Creating Bioremediation Systems
Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture (ACSA): Biopods: Integrating Regenerative Technologies into Urban Ecologies SPEAKING
TEDx: Dissecting the Living Machine
Educator: IDSA International Design Conference 2024 “Embracing Nature-Centric Design”
Guest Lecturer: RISD Design Principles, RISD Biodesign
INTERDISCIPLINARY PRACTICE
Manini’s nature-centric research practice prioritizes ecosystems over organisms, decay over disposal, and biodiversity over singularity. She embraces humans as part of nature, eliminating ideas of hierarchy.