New York University IDM

Waste That Flows Both Ways

Dhwani Nair, Yilin (Evelyn) Zeng, Tianyi (Sky) Ren, Matthew Hope

Waste That Flows Both Ways is a BioDesign installation at Brooklyn Bridge Park that visualizes water contamination from New York City’s combined sewer outfalls. During rain events, untreated sewage can enter waterways, carrying pathogens like E. coli, yet public awareness remains low. Inspired by native seaweed, the structure uses real-time sensor data to change color, indicating water safety conditions. An interior exhibit provides historical and civic context, aiming to reconnect New Yorkers with their waterways and inform public understanding of environmental risk.

https://bio-design.framer.website/

Elizabeth Henaff is a computational biologist with an art practice and has produced a body of work that ranges from scientific articles, to projects with landscape architects, to artworks shown nationally and internationally. Using New York City as a living laboratory, she leads the Laboratory for Living Interfaces at NYU Tandon School of Engineering where she investigates microbial metrics in urban environments with a focus on anthropogenic change, alongside students in design, engineering, and biology. Research directions include engineering of green wall infrastructure, remediation of Superfund sites, and the impact of street-level flooding on urban microbial diversity. She holds an associate professor position at the NYU Tandon school of Engineering in the department of Technology, Culture, and Society with affiliate positions at the Civil and Urban Engineering as well as Chemical and Biological Engineering departments. She teaches courses in Biodesign.

Karolina Sulich is an interdisciplinary researcher, program maker, and biodesigner with computational biology skills. She is blending interest in sustainability, economy, management, genomics and metagenomics, and research-driven design. Her work focuses on biotechnology for environmental sensing and remediation, including a LAMP-PCR based biosensor concept for heavy metal detection inspired by the Gowanus Canal and related projects spanning microbial heritage, hydrogel-based bioremediation. Karolina is an Adjunct Professor in Integrated Design and Media at NYU Tandon School of Engineering and a Research Affiliate with the Laboratory of Living Interfaces, she previously taught biodesign at SWPS University School of Form in Warsaw and served as a Teaching Assistant for MIT Media Lab’s “How to Grow (Almost) Anything.” A Fulbright Fellow, she has contributed to global synthetic biology education through a Nature Biotechnology publication while also maintaining an active writing practice at the interface of science, culture, and emerging biotechnologies.