Darlene Damm
Faculty Chair and Former Vice President of Community and Impact, Singularity University
Darlene Damm is Faculty Chair and former Vice President of Community and Impact at Singularity University and a pioneer of the impact technology industry. She co-founded two of the world’s first impact technology companies, Matternet and DIYROCKETS, and mentored thousands of founders who went on to build impact technology companies. Darlene served with Ashoka, the World Bank, nonprofits in Vietnam and Myanmar and has spoken at the United Nations, the World Food Programme, SXSW, Google, Intuit and delivered TedX talks in Vilnius and Budapest. She has written articles for Harvard Business Review, Forbes, St. Louis Post Dispatch, Spiceworks, the OECD, the Qatar Foundation and GRIT Daily. She received her bachelor’s degree from Stanford University, her master’s degree from Johns Hopkins SAIS, was a fellow with Japan-US Community Education and Exchange, is an advisor to the World Food Programme, a mentor with Google’s impact accelerator, a judge for Stanford BASES, and served on the Biden Administration’s Working Group on Cross Border Trade. She holds patents in drone technology and Authority Magazine featured her as a social impact hero.
Judge’s selections
Illumination Prize
Sea vegetable Circulation
SEA VEGETABLE COMPANY
Sea Vegetable is illuminating and helping our world understand the value of something overlooked - the 1500 types of edible seaweed in the ocean of which only 100 are known. Seaweed is a nutritious vegetable also important to the environment and Japan’s culture. Sea Vegetable is also helping people see something else overlooked - the value of aging workers, disabled workers and abandoned communities in growing this industry. The knowledge Sea Vegetable captures from documenting and studying these seaweeds will be valuable to both human health and the environmental ecosystem. If they have not already done so, I would love to see Sea Vegetable create a “Seaweed” dictionary or open database of all the different seaweeds, their properties, health and environmental benefits, what they look like, recipes and more so more people can learn and collaborate.
The Endless Possibilities for Future Generations Prize
TATAMI ReFAB PROJECT
HONOKA
The project transforms a material again and again. First a plant is turned into a tatami mat. Then a tatami mat is turned into beautiful furniture and objects with the help of 3D printing. 3D printing will also allow anyone to design and create their own objects. The project is recycling goods as well as helping people see what a tatami mat can become, at a time when they are being replaced by less sustainable goods. The project leaders mentioned they hoped to connect the project to the original farmers. It might be possible to use a sensor and block chain technology to track the original materials over the course of their lifecycle. The farmers could see the different products other people create with the tatami over time and farmers could receive a financial compensation every time the tatami is turned into something new and (re)sold. Perhaps everyone who participated in the tatami's journey could be kept up to date and compensated. Over time an object's value increases the more times it is recycled through its life, creating an economy that incentives recycling.
The Vulnerability of Innovation Prize
Guilty Flavours
Eleonora Ortolani
We live on the cusp of using biotechnology to rebuild and redesign our world. While this holds great promise for solving environmental and social challenges, it also raises new questions. What is natural and unnatural? What is biological and what is material? What is healthy and unhealthy? What are the consequences of changing things? What are the consequences of not changing things? How much risk should we take? How much risk should we ask others to take? How do we not fear a future very different than our past? This project gently introduced these questions to the viewer. While much of the world engages in polarizing and destructive debate around technology and ethics, this project shows there is another way. We can experience and see possibilities for change and our future, while also remaining completely safe. I hope Eleanora will create other projects at the intersection of technology and ethics that allows more people to gently and safely explore the choices of our future.
The Living Lodestar Prize
Lichens as an bioindicators of "Well-being"
Yixuan Wang (collaborated with Julio Obscura)
We live in a world that seems to get more and more complicated everyday and is plagued by large systemic problems - climate change, pollutants, health challenges and an unstable economy. At the same time, our world is increasingly filled with confusing, contradictory and false information. Many people are feeling anxious and helpless in this world. This project shares that despite this confusion and chaos, we can count on the humble lichen to guide us forward and help us see first hand how healthy the environment is immediately around us. Lichen is also freely available, and growing in many locations around the world. If the project does not do so already, I would love to see an interactive component where people around the world photograph and share the lichen in their lives and neighborhoods.
Doing the Hard Work Prize
CirculaRElectronics by VERTMONDE
VERTMONDE ECUADOR
We have covered our world with mines, factories and logistics systems to mine metals, create parts, and build electronics. While these technologies are vital to modern life, the world is also facing a massive problem with e-waste, which is connected to both pollution and climate change. It can be tempting to come up with new solutions to try to solve these pollution and climate change challenges, but sometimes the best solution is to actually reverse what we have done. The project demonstrates how we can not only extend the life of technology, but create "reverse logistics hubs" to recycle and undo what we have built - still while keeping the end product. What if our world put as much effort into taking things apart, repurposing pieces and repairing damages as it puts into building entirely new things? This project demonstrates that if we put in the effort and hard work, we can reverse the problems we have created. In this case, they have done so at no financial cost and even creating a profit.