Sam Dancis
Sam Dancis (pronouns: They/Them/Theirs) is the director of the University of Colorado’s Pre-Health Scholars program (CUPS). The CUPS program introduces high school students to lesser-known careers within healthcare and equips them with the knowledge and resources to address health disparities as researchers and practitioners. They have recently partnered with the CU Denver Campus to provide an Indigenous Summer STEM Program for middle and high school youth, which focuses on cultural relevance and capital.
Dale Dougherty
Dale Dougherty is the CEO and Founder of Make Media, publisher of Make Magazine. He has been called the “godfather of the Maker movement”, having founded both the magazine and the first Maker Faire in 2006. Dale was instrumental in launching the Maker movement which is reshaping science and technology education and creating unprecedented economic opportunity for young people and a renaissance in urban manufacturing.
Matt Fields
Dr. Fields graduated from Boston University in 2001 with a BA in computer science. After working in the field of computer vision and AI. He then pursued a career in medicine and graduated from Boston University School of Medicine in 2005. He completed his residency training in Emergency Medicine from the University of Pennsylvania in 2009 where he also completed a fellowship in ultrasound and a certificate in research. During his career he has worked extensively in researching the ability of imaging tools such as bedside ultrasound to impact patient care. In 2019, he took on the role of research director of the health design lab at Thomas Jefferson University. He currently coordinates over 20 separate projects evaluating the impact of 3D printing on healthcare delivery.
Tim Pula
Tim Pula specializes in the creation of open-ended, hands-on activities in museum environments. He is self-taught in the areas of activity design and the use of advanced manufacturing equipment. Tim is currently at the Draper Spark!Lab in the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, where he invents activities that encourages museum visitors to explore and engage in the history and process of invention.
Nervous System
Jessica Rosenkrantz and Jesse Louis-Rosenberg
Jessica is co-founder/creative director of Nervous System An artist, designer, and programmer, Jessica graduated from MIT with degrees in biology and architecture, and studied architecture at the Harvard Graduate School of Design. She is a Lecturer at MIT teaching design.
Jesse is co-founder/chief science officer of Nervous System. He is an artist, computer programmer, and maker who is interested in how simulation techniques can be used in design and in the creation of new kinds of fabrication machines. He studied math at MIT and previously worked at Gehry Technologies in building modeling and design automation.
Nervous System is a generative design studio in Massachusetts that works at the intersection of science, art, and technology. Writing computer programs based on processes and patterns found in nature, the studio creates unique and affordable art, jewelry, and housewares. Nervous System has pioneered the application of new technologies in design, including generative systems, 3D printing, and webGL, and regularly releases online design applications that enable customers to co-create products in an effort to make design more accessible. Their designs have been featured in WIRED, the New York Times, Forbes, and elsewhere, and their work is a part of the permanent collection at the Museum of Modern Art, the Cooper-Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum, and the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.
Bon Ku
, MD, MPP
Bon is the Assistant Dean for Health and Design and an Associate Professor at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University. He is a practicing emergency medicine physician and the founder/director of the first design thinking program in a medical school. His innovative program that teaches future physicians to apply human-centered design to healthcare challenges has been highlighted in the The New York Times, New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst, The Huffington Post, Next City and Architectural Digest. Dr. Ku has spoken widely on the intersection of health and design thinking (TEDx, South by Southwest, Mayo Clinic Transform, Stanford Medicine X) and serves on the Design and Health Leadership Group at the American Institute of Architects. He received the Health Care Innovators Award from the Philadelphia Business Journal and made the Best of Philly list in Philadelphia Magazine. Dr. Ku holds a master’s degree in Public Policy from Princeton University, MD from Penn State and a bachelor’s degree in Classical Studies from the University of Pennsylvania