Poznaj naszych mentorów!

Rox Middleton is a physicist at the University of Cambridge in the Department of Chemistry, working in the group of Bio-Inspired Photonics. She is a specialist in bio-inspired photonic materials, using optical and electron microscopes to investigate how the structural colour (such as bright opalescent colours in bird feathers or butterflies) is formed in plants. She says:

I am interested in how these structures are formed in the cell because that can tell us more about how plant cell walls grow, and how we can reproduce them artificially to create entirely biocompatible plant-based iridescent and brightly coloured pigments.

In her field of interest there are biocompatible materials for tissue scaffolding and medical application. She was also able to reproduce a microfiber ‚artificial spider silk’ based on the application of UV light to solidify the aqueous polymers.

She is a co-author of many scientific publications in prestigious journals (Nature, APL Photonics). Rox is not only an academic scientist but also a science communicator (silver prize at SET for Britain physics parliamentary poster competition, 2016). She has also artistic activities, like creating Bio-Inspired Photonics outreach installations and being organizer and artist at Artifact exhibition in 2013. She collaborates with artists to make short films to promote knowledge about the new, interesting natural materials.

During our scientific part of the workshop, she will give a talk about the origin of structural color in Nature and will be supporting the teams of participants, giving them feedback about their projects.

Professor Marek Liskiewicz is currently the Head of the New Product Development Studio at the Faculty of Industrial Design of the Academy of Fine Arts of Cracow. He obtained his doctoral degree in design from the Academy of Fine Arts of Cracow. As an academic teacher, his mission is to educate young designers, preparing them for creative work in industrial design.  As an artist and an industrial designer, he is a founder and co-owner of TRIADA DESIGN project studio, which is specializing in product and graphic design. TRIADA DESIGN collaborates with several national companies, such as Wawel Royal Castle, Zelmer, HSK Data, Polmark or Splast Jedlicze company. He won many prestigious awards, including Designer of the Year granted by the President of the Institute of Industrial Design in 2011, Ars Quaerendi Award of the Malopolska Region in 2012 for outstanding actions in the development and promotion of culture. He is a co-author of the book „Development of a new product” ASP Kraków, 1994.

During our workshop, he will instruct and train the participants in the new approach to design and develop the new products. He will support the student ideas and mentor their projects.