Skip to main content

Staff Profile

Dr Marin Sawa

NUACT Fellow: Biotechnology

  • Email: marin.sawa@ncl.ac.uk
  • Telephone: 0191 208 0254
  • Address: Room 8.15
    School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape
    Henry Daysh Building
    Newcastle University
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU
Background

Marin Sawa leads design-led biotechnology investigations, establishing her own research group as a NUAcT Fellow: Biotechnology (Principal Investigator) at the Hub for Biotechnology in the Built Environment (HBBE), School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape (APL). Her tenure-track position is hosted by the School of APL.

Marin's work explores biology in action, particularly photosynthesis, to design ecosophical interfaces of technology and aesthetics for sustainable change from molecular to macro scale and from inside to outside. Her NUAcT fellowship research develops architectures of photosynthesis-powered bioelectronics with areas of investigation spanning from molecular-scale interfaces between the living and non-living in device design and digital biofabrication to autopoiesis and wider ecology, with a view to contribute towards the reduction of global electrical waste. Her research questions scalability in biotechnological semi-living systems (i.e. photobioreactors, bioelectrodes, biophotovoltaics in algal/ photosynthesis research) from a design-led perspective that synthesises different parameters from microbiology and technoscience to fabrication (poiesis) to architecture.

Sawa joined NU in 2021 after postdoctoral research in the laboratories of Professor Klaus Hellgardt at Chemical Engineering Department and Professor Peter Nixon at Life Sciences, Imperial College London. Prior to this, she graduated from the Architectural Association (AA School) with a First-Class Honours degree equivalent in Architecture (AA Intermediate) and RIBA Part 1. She gained post Part 1 practical experience as full-time staff at the architects office Kengo Kuma and Associates (Tokyo, Japan) followed by independent practice. She then developed postgraduate research back at the AA and pursued the interface of materials and environment at Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design (CSM) where she obtained a MA in Design with the highest distinction from Textile Futures and received the CSM Rector’s International Graduate Scholarship for an original PhD proposal in the intersection of design with applications of photosynthetic microorganisms (algal biotechnology); her interdisciplinary PhD formed strong technoscientific collaborations and was awarded in 2016. Most of her doctoral and postdoctoral experiments were conducted within the Photosynthesis Research Group Laboratory at the Wolfson Laboratories, Sir Ernst Chain Building (Biochemistry), Imperial College.


Awards

2023 Arts and Humanities Research Council funded Northern Bridge Doctoral Training Partnership 'Collaborative Doctoral Award' (PhD studentship) with Notpla (industry partner)

2022 Mitacs Globalink Research Award (exchange intern from Prof Ben Hatton Group, the University of Toronto)

2021 NUAcT Fellowship: Biotechnology, HBBE, Newcastle University

2018 Techcelerate Fellowship and Special Mention in Energy and Computing, Imperial College London

2017 Nomination (top 1%) for STARTS (Science Technology Arts) Prize, European Commission

2016 Finalist for the Royal Commission for the Exhibition of 1851 Design Fellowship (biennale call for one award)

2012 ‘Color in Design’ Award, Pantone x Print Magazine, US

2011 Central Saint Martins College of Arts and Design Rector’s International Graduate Scholarship, University of Arts London (quadrennial call for one award)


Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI)

  • Member of the EDI committee, School of Architecture, Planning and Landscape, Newcastle University, 2022-
  • Invited speaker on a ‘Women in Science’ panel at the 6th Annual Graphene and Related Materials Conference (funded by EPSRC), UK, 2019


Professional activities

  • Nominator for The Arts Foundation Futures Awards (Regenerative Design), 2023
  • Grant reviewer for The U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, 2022
  • Consultancy on IKEA on ‘Future Home 2030’ Foresight, 2022
  • Invited participant, 'Festival of Algae’, Algae-UK, Birmingham Science Museum 2021
  • Invited contributions to anthropology research on biomaterial research (Anthropology Dep, University College London), 2021; responsive innovations research (Sustainability Dep, Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Germany), 2021; ‘Mapping the Creative Biology Landscape’ (Funded by the Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh), 2020; emerging materials research (Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology), 2016; additive manufacturing research (Center for Technology Management at the Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge), 2016
  • Advisor to the Algae Platform, Architecture Studio, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2020
  • Book reviewer on algal biotechnology, CRC Press, Tayler & Francis Books, 2020
  • Conference session co-chair, MRS (Material Research Society) Fall Meeting, Boston, 2019
  • Journal article co-reviewer, Advanced Sustainable Systems, Wiley, 2018


Selected media mentions


Public engagements


Science public engagements distinct from Exhibitions in Publications


Industry engagements

Research

Changes in the field of design have surfaced in the last 15 years or so; creative enthusiasm has expanded from modelling after biology (biomimicry) to making directly with biology (biodesign) - materialisation through biology in action rather than extrapolating out of biology. Marin Sawa

Introduction

My approach to biotechnology is inspired by the concept of ‘ecosophy’ by French psychoanalyst and green activist Félix Guattari (1930-1992) in which the root of ecological crises is identified with the way we live, or rather, our capitalistic practices. By reconstructing our social and individual practices under environmental, social, and aesthetic domains or 'ecologies', he argued that the big wheel of global crises can be turned the other way. It is one of the few sustainability critiques to address the catch-22 nature of ecological solutions where solutions can breed new problems.


Biodesign - 'design-led biotechnology'

My earlier research (‘Algaerium’ 2010) contributed to the conceptual formation and growth of the emerging practice known as biodesign (Myers 2012). By demonstrating the aesthetic containment of living microalgae in bespoke bioreactor designs, my work suggested domestication of biotechnology for sustainable living (Sawa 2010, 2012). Over the decade, I have explored the potential of these photosynthetic microorganisms in the areas of food, energy, and air purification in the speculative domain (‘Algaeirum Bioprinter’ 2013-15) and more progressively the technological domain (‘Algae Printing’ 2014- present; ‘Solar Biobattery’ 2014- present) through forming technoscientific collaboration with algal scientists. 


NUAcT Research: 'Forming Bioelectronics and an Ecology'

Interdisciplinary efforts led by architects, engineers and scientists have pioneered the integration of algal biotechnology into the built environment, expanding the spectrum of applications from bioproduction (i.e. biofuels and high-value ‘ceuticals’) to environmental engineering and design. However, there is very little research in developing new applications of biotechnology from an integrative perspective beyond technocracy. My background work explored both technological and spatial ways in which the containment, cultivation and harvesting of life can be integrated into contemporary social practices and successfully developed design-led cultivation and biofabrication methods termed ‘Algae Printing’, a scalable form of bioprinting. With this new design-fabrication method, I further developed applications of digitally printed single-cell algae and cyanobacteria in close collaboration with algal scientists in food, energy and air purification – pillars of sustainable life in cities. One of the applications, I propose to develop here, is a sustainable thin-film biophotovoltaic/biobattery technology termed ‘Solar Biobattery’, exploiting the ability of photosynthesis to generate electricity. It presents an entirely different approach to devise design, making it the first of its kind in the world and was published in Nature Communications (Sawa et al. 2017).

My focus is on scaling up the paper-based biophotovoltaic/ biofilm system of Solar Biobattery by integrating into paper-based Japanese architecture at molecular and social levels: the problem with life in containment is that life suddenly loses the very characteristic of life itself – autopoiesis. Here I am interested in designing an artificial ecology for such semi-living devices (mostly grouped as bioelectronics) to solve scalability bottlenecks - with the notion of ‘organisms plus environment as the unit of survival’ in mind.

It will develop (1) the proof-of-concept prototype of Solar Biobattery for ecosophical integration with focus on the interface between living cells and electrodes (2) life cycle, (3) array systems (4) the Algae Printing technology that underpins the design and biofabrication processes, also providing the basis for other applications in which photosynthetic metabolisms of cells become crucial design parameters. I will examine an urban ecology formed by the bioelectronics that interlaces the aesthetics, biological and environmental to explore a level of 'autopoiesis' in semi-living systems.

During my 5-year NUAcT Fellowship at the HBBE, in the context of practice-led interdisciplinary research, the overarching aim is to consolidate the speculative and technological spectrum of the role of design in green biotechnology and give perspectives on emerging biodesign practices in arts and sciences.

The work will build upon existing academic and industry collaborations based in UK (London, Cambridge), Europe, Singapore, and Japan.


Grants

2019 Development of Solar Biobattery for Printed Electronics, Faculty of Natural Sciences Strategic Funding ‘Collaboration Kick-start’ (£19,198), Imperial College London: lead applicant Marin Sawa with co-applicants: Prof. Peter Nixon (Biochemistry), Dr. Andrea Fantuzzi (Biochemistry), Prof. Klaus Hellgardt (Chemical Engineering) in collaboration with Dr. Felice Torrisi (Chemistry)

2018 Development of Solar Biobattery for Printed Electronics, EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Award (£98,036: EP/R511547/1), Imperial College London: lead applicant with co-applicants: Dr. Andrea Fantuzzi, Prof. Klaus Hellgardt in collaboration with Prof. Anthony Kucernak Group (Jack Dawson, Chemistry, Imperial) and Prof. Chris Howe Group (Dr. Paolo Bombelli, Biochemistry, Cambridge); industry collaboration (£30K in-kind support) with Arm Ltd (Dr. Emre Ozer and Dr. Anand Savanth); Hosted by Prof. Peter Nixon Group, Photosynthesis Research Lab


PhD supervisions

Dec 2023 - A fully funded interdisciplinary PhD studentship (Newcastle University NUAcT Scheme) on the architecture of electroactive biofilm - link to come

Dec 2023 - A fully funded creative practice PhD studentship (Arts and Humanities Research Council Northern Bridge Collaborative Doctoral Award) available

2021 A funded PhD studentship available: https://www.jobs.ac.uk/job/CHB469/phd-studentship-forming-bioelectronics-and-ecology (now closed)

2019 - current Alex Ford (Leverhulme Cellular Bionics Studentship Award on ‘SolarBioChip’, Imperial College London): Co-supervision with Prof. Milo Shaffer (Lead PI, Chemistry) and Prof. Peter Nixon (Co-PI, Biochemistry)


Professional activities

  • Nominator for The Arts Foundation Futures Awards (Regenerative Design), 2023
  • Grant reviewer for The U.S.-Israel Binational Science Foundation, 2022
  • Consultancy on IKEA on ‘Future Home 2030’ Foresight, 2022
  • Invited participant, 'Festival of Algae’, Algae-UK, Birmingham Science Museum 2021
  • Invited contributions to anthropology research on biomaterial research (Anthropology Dep, University College London), 2021; responsive innovations research (Sustainability Dep, Fraunhofer UMSICHT, Germany), 2021; ‘Mapping the Creative Biology Landscape’ (Funded by the Edinburgh Futures Institute, University of Edinburgh), 2020; emerging materials research (Faculty of Industrial Design Engineering, Delft University of Technology), 2016; additive manufacturing research (Center for Technology Management at the Institute for Manufacturing, University of Cambridge), 2016
  • Advisor to the Algae Platform, Architecture Studio, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 2020
  • Book reviewer on algal biotechnology, CRC Press, Tayler & Francis Books, 2020
  • Conference session co-chair, MRS (Material Research Society) Fall Meeting, Boston, 2019
  • Journal article co-reviewer, Advanced Sustainable Systems, Wiley, 2018


Teaching

NUAcT Fellowships are senior research positions (Principal Investigators) exempt from teaching duties. I have been able to focus 100% on research and do research-led teaching upon invitations/ requests mostly at graduate levels across design, architecture, and sciences; I tutor/advise students and researchers who contact me from various corners of the world seeking to develop design-led approaches to algal biotechnology, biodesign and biophotovoltaic design:

  • Lectures: External Seminars Series, Institute of Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation, Bacteriology (Host: Dr. Hua Wang, The Pigments of Life Laboratory), University of Glasgow, May 2021; Materials ‘Microbiome’ Series (Host: Prof. Maria-Paz Gutierrez, Architecture Dep.), University of California - Berkeley, Apr 2021
  • Seminar presentations: PMB seminar, School of Natural and Environmental Sciences, NU, 2022; MRes Biotechnology and Biodesign, NU, 2021; Biodesign Challenge, NU, 2020 & 2021; Medical Research Council Doctoral Training Partnership (MRC DTP) Colloquium, Enterprise Lab, Imperial, 2018; MA(RCA)/MSc Global Innovation Design (GID), Imperial/ RCA (Host: Prof. Oron Catts), 2016; MA Textiles Futures, BA Textiles, CSM, UAL, 2012- 2014
  • Advisory/tutoring on graduate/undergraduate projects: MA(RCA) Fashion 2022; MA(RCA)/MSc Innovation Design Engineering, Dyson School, Imperial/RCA, 2022; MA(RCA)/MSc Global Innovation Design (GID), Dyson School, 2014-2019, 2021; MA Design Product, RCA 2014; MA Fashion 2020, RCA; MA Materials Futures, CSM, 2017, 2020, 2021; MA Product Design, Kingston University, 2021; Biodesign Challenge, HBBE, NU, 2021; MA Design, Goldsmith University, 2015; BSc Biomedical Engineering, Duke University, 2021
  • Guest critic to project reviews: MRes Architecture (Host: Dr. Guan Lee et al.), RCA, 2019; MArch BiotA Lab, Bartlett School of Architecture (Host: Prof. Marcos Cruz and Richard Beckett - Prof. as of 2021), UCL, 2014; Diploma Unit 20, Bartlett, 2012; Intermediate Unit 12, AA School of Architecture, 2012
    Publications

    • Artefacts

      • Sawa Marin. Soft Structure. Tilburg, Netherlands: Audax Textile Museum Shop, 2011.
      • Sawa Marin. Soft Structure. US: Print Magazine, 2010.

    • Articles

    • Authored Book

      • Sawa M. Biorealism. Abingdon: Routledge, 2022. In Preparation.

    • Book Chapters

      • Sawa M. Algaerium Bioprinter and Algae Printing. In: Leopoldseder, H; Schöpf. C; Stocker, G, ed. CyberArts 2017: Prix Ars Electronica · STARTS Prize ’17. Berlin: Hatje Cantz Verlag GmgH, 2017, pp.209.
      • Sawa M. Algae Printing and Algaerium Bioprinter. In: Warriner, G; Sweetapple. K, ed. Food Futures. Barcelona: Promopress Editions, 2017, pp.196- 201.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium. In: Davis, C, ed. Futurotextiles 3: Surprising Textiles, Design & Art. Oostkamp: Stichting Kunstboek BVBA, 2013, pp.25.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium. In: Myers, W, ed. Bio Design: Nature Science Creativity. London: Thames Hudson/ New York: Museum of Modern Art, 2012, pp.pp. 88-91; pp. 266-267.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium. In: Rüsseler, S, ed. Rüsseler, S., ed., i Fabric European Talent. Tilburg: Audax Textile Museum, 2010, pp.8-11.

    • Conference Proceedings (inc. Abstracts)

    • Confidential Reports

      • Sawa M, Nixon P. End of Faculty of Natural Sciences Strategic Research Funding Project Report. Imperial College London, 2020. Submitted.
      • Sawa M. End of EPSRC Impact Acceleration Account Project - Narrative Report. Imperial College London, 2019. Submitted.

    • Device/Product

      • Sawa M, Fantuzzi A. Digitally printed biophotovoltaic device prototype with a zigzag electrode pattern. 2013. Imperial College London.

    • Digital or Visual Media

      • Sawa M. Urban Infill - Urban Facade. SuperDeluxe, Tokyo: Klein Dytham Architecture, 2003. JPEG on CD-ROM.

    • Exhibitions

      • Sawa M. Solar Biobattery. 2018. Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, USA: ID Tech Ex Show.
      • Sawa M. Algae Printing and Solar Biobattery. 2018. Open Cell, London, England: Biodesign Here and Now, London Design Festival.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium Bioprinter and Algae Printing. 2017. Post City, Linz, Austria: STARTS Prize ’17 Exhibition, Ars Electronica Festival.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium Bioprinter and Algae Printing. 2017. Centre for Fine Arts, Brussels, Belgium: STARTS Prize ’17 Exhibition, BOZAR Electronic Art Festival.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium Bioprinter. 2015. Copernicus Science Centre, Warsaw, Poland: Przemiany festival/Anthropocene –design an epoch.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium Bioprinter. 2013. Leipziger Messe GmbH: 'smart technology - new design' Designers' Open 2013.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium Bioprinter. 2013. Foundation EDF, Paris: En Vie/Alive.
      • Sawa M. Algaerium. 2013. The New Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands: Biodesign: on the Cross-Pollination of Nature, Science and Creativity.