WISDM Speaker

Rachel Smith, MS

Media Arts and Sciences | Biological Engineering, Materials Science and Engineering
she, her, hers

Contact me if you need someone interested in...

Speaking (Panel), Mentoring, Speaking (Presentation), Press Commentary, Co-founding Ventures, Board Seat/Advising, Startup Team Engagement, Academic Collaborations

About Rachel

Ph.D.c. in the Mediated Matter research group at MIT, Rachel studies the intersection between programmable biological functions and programmable material environments. She focuses on building synthetic interactions between genetically modified organisms, fabrication platforms, and computer-aided design, for novel, functional outputs termed "Hybrid Living Materials".Rachel holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from University of Virginia, and has experience co-founding the start-up PhageFlag to develop phage-based diagnostics for bacterial disease, founding hospital-based hackathons for entrepreneurial biodesign, and working within translational medicine programs to get UVA BME research projects to clinical and industrial applications.

STEM Keywords

3d printing, additive manufacturing, bio-hybrid materials, bioengineering, biology and space, computer-aided design & fabrication, design, engineered living materials, smart materials, synthetic biology

Venture Keywords

design thinking, Entrepreneurship, hackathons, microbial technology, point-of-care diagnostics, space exploration, Translational Research, wearables

Country of Origin

United States

Rachel's Innovation Activities

Recent Venture Activity

PhageFlag Venture, Bio-Med TechGirls Summer Camp Program, Charlottesville Open Bio Labs

Patent Activity

20190276793

Other Innovation Activity

MIT To The Moon Hackathon (organizing team), Wearable Biotech & Growable Interfaces Workshop (organizing team/speaker), NSF I-Corps

Rachel In the News

Printing objects that can incorporate living organisms

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Hybrid Living Materials: Digital Design and Fabrication of 3D Multimaterial Structures with Programmable Biohybrid Surfaces

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Genetically Engineered Test For Whooping Cough Wins U.Va. E-Cup

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Rachel Awards

Coulter Translational Research Award, UVA

The UVA Entrepreneurship-Cup

MITii Tech for Truth Hackathon