Designers in Materials Research – From CHEMARTS to Biodesign

Pirjo Kääriäinen

Senior Advisor, Aalto University

Pirjo Kääriäinen serves as a Senior Advisor at Aalto University, focusing on fostering collaboration across disciplines, particularly in exploring new material innovations. Her academic journey has spanned several key roles: she worked as a Professor of Design and Materialities, as a Professor of Practice and Designer in Residence, and as a Professor in Textile Art and Design (TaiK). Since 2011, her primary assignment at Aalto University has been CHEMARTS, a collaboration between the School of Arts, Design and Architecture and the School of Chemical Engineering focused on bio-based materials. Before her academic career, Pirjo Kääriäinen worked for many years in the Scandinavian textile industry and gained experience as an entrepreneur and consultant in the creative industries.

CHEMARTS
Aalto University Bioinnovation Centre
Fashion/Textile Futures

New English book brings material science to children and young people

Suzanne Lee

Founder & CEO, BIOFABRICATE

Suzanne Lee is a fashion designer turned biomaterial pioneer working at the intersection of design, biology, and sustainability for over two decades. She is the founder of Biofabricate, an international platform advancing the development and adoption of biomaterials across consumer industries. She previously served as Chief Creative Officer at Modern Meadow, building the first ever lab-based design team working on multiple biofabricated approaches to producing leather alternatives.

Suzanne coined the term Biocouture™ in 2002 after growing garments from microbes—work that ignited a global movement in biologically derived textiles and materials. Her pioneering projects have been exhibited globally, named among TIME’s best innovations, and include the first biofabricated garment acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York. A TED Senior Fellow and Launch Material Innovator (an initiative of NASA, Nike, USAID, and the U.S. State Department), Suzanne is the author of Fashioning the Future: Tomorrow’s Wardrobe and a recognized thought leader advising brands, startups, and institutions on the future of bioinnovation.

biofabricate.co

Ted talk: Why biofabrication is the next industrial revolution 
Ted talk: Grow your own clothes

Instagram: biofabricate
LinkedIn: biofabricate

Tapani Vuorinen

Aalto Distinguished Professor

Aalto Distinguished Professor (emeritus) Tapani Vuorinen is a cofounder of CHEMARTS. His research area ranges from chemical and anatomical structure of plants to fractionation and conversion of biomass into industrial products. He has been awarded the Marcus Wallenberg Prize and the Lampén Medal for his merits in research and education. Currently he works as Senior Advisor in Aalto School of Chemical Engineering.

Jaana Vapaavuori

Associate Professor, Aalto University

Jaana Vapaavuori leads Multifunctional Materials Design group combining three intertwining thematic areas: sustainable bio-based materials and devices, adaptive and interactive textiles, and equal-footed interdisciplinary methods. She is recipient of prestigious ERC starting and consolidator grants, and she is founder of the Nordic research network on smart textiles. Her core interest is to map holistically reasonable, circular use cases for the Globe’s undervalued and overconsumed material resources, be it climate-adaptive textiles, construction or high added-value devices. Her work also emphasizes the importance of cultural and social dimensions of early-stage materials development.

Sofia Guridi

Doctoral researcher, Aalto University

Sofía Guridi is a designer pursuing a PhD in Sustainable Computational Fabrics at Aalto University, as part of the Fashion/Textiles Futures research group and the Bioinnovation Center. She conducts interdisciplinary work at the intersection of textiles, electronics, and bio-based materials to create interactive textiles. Combining traditional textile knowledge with material experimentation, her experience spans from applied research to artistic installations. You can find her work at https://sofiaguridi.xyz/start

Laureen Mahler

Doctoral researcher, Aalto University

Laureen Mahler is a doctoral researcher at Aalto University whose work focuses on the designer-maker and the role of material engagement in fostering holistic approaches to design. Fundamental to her research is the cultivation of knowledge through acts of making, which in turn facilitate interdisciplinary research and provide new perspectives on designing. She works in the field, laboratory, and workshop, combining practice-led research, craft methodologies, and materials science.

Matteo Iannacchero

Doctoral researcher, Aalto University

Matteo has a background in industrial chemistry, with expertise in the synthesis and modification of biopolymers. His PhD research explores alternatives to metallic components in third-generation electronic textiles. Combining laboratory experimentation with machine learning, he works to improve the performance of electronic properties of fibers and fabrics to support the development of more flexible, sustainable e-textiles.

Noora Yau

Co-founder, Shimber

Dr Noora Yau is a designer, researcher and Founder of Shimber, the first spin-off from Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design and Architecture (Aalto ARTS). Her work explores the intersection of design, materials science and colour, with a particular focus on nanocellulose-based structural colour and the role of design in materials research. She completed her doctoral degree at Aalto ARTS in 2025.

Konrad Klockars

Co-founder, Shimber

Dr Konrad Klockars is a materials scientist, researcher and Founder of Shimber, the first spin-off from Aalto University’s School of Arts, Design and Architecture (Aalto ARTS). His work focuses on cellulose nanocrystal self-assembly, drying mechanisms and the development of durable, bio-based structural colour coatings through interdisciplinary collaboration. He completed his doctoral degree at Aalto University in 2023 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral researcher at BOKU University in Austria.

Anna van der Lei

Designer and Lecturer, Aalto University

Anna van der Lei is a designer and lecturer at Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture. Her work focuses on experimental material development, with a particular interest in bio-based materials and their ecological origins. She works through hands-on experimentation and interdisciplinary collaboration with artists, scientists, and chemists. At Aalto, she teaches at the Contemporary Design major and is co-responsible for CHEMARTS, a collaboration between the fields of art, design, and chemical engineering exploring bio-based materials and their applications.

Evgen Multia

University Lecturer, Aalto University

Evgen Multia is a University Lecturer in Biorefining at Aalto University with a background in chemistry and biomass refining. His work focuses on understanding biomass refining processes and biomaterials, and on translating their properties into new applications. Before joining Aalto, he worked in industrial R&D on bio-based technologies and their development into real-world products. He is particularly interested in how scientists, engineers and designers can work together to explore materials, identify new possibilities, and move ideas from laboratory research toward sustainable applications and commercialization.

Manuel Arias

Doctoral researcher, Aalto University

Manuel is a designer working between the disciplines of design, biology, technology, and craft. Inspired by the notions of sustainability and new digital and biological tools, he has been actively researching mycelium-based materials for the last 6 years in collaboration with scientists at VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland. He is currently conducting doctoral studies at Aalto University in collaboration with VTT. His research focuses on biofabrication processes that integrate design and bioengineering principles to create materials that could self-heal in the near future. He is also interested in methodologies for guiding creative processes in scientific environments.

Géza Szilvay

Senior Scientist, VTT

Géza Szilvay, PhD, is a Senior Scientist at VTT whose work explores how living systems can be used to create new materials. His research ranges from self-assembling proteins to fungal mycelium-based materials and other biotechnology-enabled alternatives to conventional materials. His work combines biology, materials science, and engineering to advance renewable and circular material solutions for industry.

Maurizio Montalti

Co-founder, SQIM, Ephea, Mogu & Officina Corpuscoli

Working at the junction of design and biotech, Maurizio is one of the early pioneers committed to the study and development of wide-ranging mycelium-based technologies, focusing on the creation of multiple classes of innovative biomaterials and of the related artefacts and products.

In 2015, he co-founded SQIM Srl (IT), a cutting-edge innovation company that develops (bio)technologies in collaboration with living organisms and natural systems, giving shape to high-performance, sustainable materials. As Chief Mycelium Officer, today Maurizio plays a key role in articulating and advancing SQIM’s dual-branded vision — transforming radical concepts into tangible, scalable realities. SQIM’s pioneering brands are Ephea and Mogu, former is redefining the fashion landscape through new bio-fabricated materials’ classes, while the latter is reshaping interior design and architecture with naturally- born products for the everyday.

Barbara Pollini

Assistant Professor, Aalto University

Barbara Pollini is Assistant Professor in Biodesign Integration at Aalto University. She holds master’s degrees in Ecodesign and Computational Design and completed her PhD in 2023 on biodesign’s potential to advance conventional and regenerative sustainability. With more than a decade of teaching experience, her work spans sustainable design, material experimentation, biodesign, and design fiction for sustainable futures. At Aalto, her research and teaching explore biodesign integration for bio-driven material innovation, with a focus on bio-based, living, and life-enabling materials.

Ena Naito

Doctoral researcher, Aalto University

Ena Naito is a doctoral researcher at Aalto University, working at the intersection of biology, design, and co-learning. Her research examines emerging biodesign infrastructures and their role in facilitating experimental, interdisciplinary practices aimed at fostering sustainable material cultures. She also founded and leads the BioMakerStudio at the university - a hybrid biolab-makerspace-studio dedicated to biodesign research and education. Ena holds an MA in Contemporary Design with CHEMARTS from Aalto University, and BFA in Art from the University of Oxford, UK.