Biologically Informed Engineering
Webinar Recordings:
Recordings will be available exclusively to ILP members. To learn more about becoming a member, click here.
Biology offers a powerful blueprint for rethinking how we discover and build engineered systems. Adaptive by Design: Biologically Informed Engineering examines how ideas rooted in living systems, such as adaptability, efficiency, and responsive behavior, are driving new approaches to engineering across disciplines.
This Leading Edge webinar will explore how AI is accelerating hypothesis generation by identifying patterns across biology, materials science, and engineering, and how advances in sensing, imaging, and instrumentation are translating these insights into systems for testing and deployment. Together, these approaches form a continuous pipeline from idea generation to engineered application.
Through a cross‑disciplinary lens, the session will highlight how biologically informed design bridges digital and physical domains. Discussion will include perspectives on AI‑driven discovery workflows, such as the work at Unreasonable Labs, that accelerate innovation, complement experimental validation, and expand scientific and technological frontiers, as well as approaches that connect modeling, simulation, and experimentation to transform theoretical concepts into practical devices capable of interacting with real environments.
Registration Fee: ILP Member: Complimentary General Public: $250 now $100 (60% off) Current MIT Faculty/Staff/Student: Complimentary
Program Director, MIT Corporate Relations
Dr. Najung “Natalie” Kim is a Program Director at the MIT Industrial Liaison Program. She brings to the Office of Corporate Relations (OCR) expertise in strategic collaboration in life sciences and biotech industries, including cell and gene therapy and AI/ML analytics. Kim comes to OCR from Adjuvant Partners where she has been serving as Senior Consultant, Strategic Partnering, working to connect industry, startups, and academic leaders in the cell and gene therapy sector. Before Adjuvant, Natalie worked at Ajinomoto, where she was Manager of the Research & Innovation Center, facilitating collaborations on preclinical and clinical development of biologics, diagnostics, and cell therapy ancillary products in Asia, Europe, and North America. Prior to Ajinomoto, Kim was a business development manager at Medipost, where she led strategic partnerships in mesenchymal stem cell therapeutics in orthopedic and neurodegenerative applications. Kim also went through her postdoctoral training at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine as a Department of Defense Research Fellow working on translational gene therapy in tissue engineering programs.
Kim earned her B.S. Bioscience and Food Engineering at Handong Global University, her M.S. Medicine at Seoul National University in South Korea, and her Ph.D. Biomedical Engineering at the University of Iowa.
Principal Research Scientist, Department of Mechanical Engineering Associate Director, MIT.nano Director of Technical Operations, Center for Clinical and Translational Research
Dr. Brian Anthony is a leading expert in the design of intelligent, or smart, instruments and methodologies for monitoring, measuring, and controlling complex physical systems. His interdisciplinary work spans mechanical, electrical, and optical engineering, seamlessly integrated with computer science and optimization, to deliver innovative solutions across manufacturing, healthcare, and other industries.
At the core of Dr. Anthony’s research is computational instrumentation—the development of advanced tools and techniques to observe and manage intricate systems, particularly in manufacturing and medical diagnostics. His contributions include pioneering measurement and imaging technologies that enhance precision and performance in both industrial and clinical settings.
With over 30 years of experience, Dr. Anthony combines deep academic insight with practical industry expertise in technology innovation, product development, and entrepreneurship. He has successfully guided market-driven solutions from concept to commercialization, especially at the intersection of information technology and advanced manufacturing. His achievements include receiving an Emmy Award from the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences for technical innovation in broadcast engineering.
In the classroom, Dr. Anthony is dedicated to teaching the modeling and analysis of large-scale systems to support decision-making in domains such as manufacturing, medicine, and entertainment. He also leads efforts in developing optimization algorithms and software tools for system design and evaluation.
Dr. Anthony’s dual roles in academia and industry position him as a bridge between cutting-edge research and real-world application, driving impactful technologies that shape the future of engineering and innovation.
Jerry McAfee Professor, MIT Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering Professor of Engineering, MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering Co-Founder & CTO, Unreasonable Labs
Dr. Markus J. Buehler, Jerry McAfee Professor of Engineering at MIT, and Co-Founder and CTO of Unreasonable Labs, is a leading researcher in computational modeling across domains, from materials to biology to physics. Markus' expertise bridges AI to multi scale materials modeling. He recently co-developed a method that uses artificial intelligence to generate new protein designs with specific strengths, mimicking natural materials like silk. This approach, which uses computer simulations for testing, allows the creation of proteins with desired mechanical properties, such as strength and flexibility, beyond what is naturally available. Markus earned a Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Metals Research at the University of Stuttgart and held post-doctoral appointments at both Caltech and MIT. Buehler has received many awards, including the Feynman Prize, the Drucker Medal, and the Washington Award. He is a member of the National Academy of Engineering.