Nitzan Cohen

• Dean at Free University of Bozen-Bolzano

This study explores eco-friendly alternatives to flexible plastic substrates aiming to mitigate the environmental impact of electronics. Thin-film temperature sensors were fabricated on CRUSH FSCTN-certified paper substrates made with coconut, coffee, cacao, and cherry fiber waste, substituting 15% of traditional tree cellulose. The sensors were cr...

In times of multiple crises, embracing alternative and sustainable solutions for materials, products, and manufacturing systems becomes increasingly crucial and urgent. Constant improvements and innovations in technology and science, together with consumer demand for the new, encourage an ever-growing production of electronic goods, consequently le...

A growing number of science and design scholars and design practitioners have recently embarked on studying fermentation processes to produce alternative materials. The main driver of this trend is the search for a sustainable future by proposing novel alternatives that could substitute or integrate into society's current production and consumption...

Biodesign is a growing discipline focusing on material futures, alternative production methods and more interdependent solutions with Nature. In particular, it fosters designers to interact with other microorganisms and living matter for the development of materials and potential applications often based on material tinkering and material-driven de...

The growing usage and consumption of electronics‐integrated items into the daily routine has raised concerns on the disposal and proper recycling of these components. Here, a fully sustainable and green technology for the fabrication of different electronics on fruit‐waste derived paper substrate, is reported. The process relies on the carbonizatio...

Agriculture and food production play essential roles in defining the identity of a territory. While agrarian products are value generators for a region, the waste produced in the process is a mere byproduct with no or low value. However, in nature, the concept of waste does not exist since the residue of an organism is the nourishment for another....

Biodesign is a flourishing field which exemplifies a radical shift in designer’s role and a changing approach towards materials, processes and systematic thinking. Instead of choosing among conventional materials and manufacturing processes, designers actively engage in developing new alternative materials by exploring the potential of living organ...

Since its first discovery in 2014, laser-induced graphene (LIG) has gained increasingly attention as a simple and low-cost alternative to printing techniques, which instead require additional materials such as functional ink or adhesive layers. While there are several works on LIG supercapacitors, gas sensors, and triboelectric generators, this met...

Waste from food packaging and food processing raises a broad scope of critical questions to the food industry revolving around effects to man, nature and society. Reacting on this reality, designers are getting more and more involved as catalysers of innovative and interdisciplinary research by generating alternative proposals and scenarios for mor...

Today we are facing with the notion of smart objects that are increasingly showing their presence in our daily environments. This phenomenon opens up discussions on how our lives will be in future under the influence of emerging technologies and how designers can speculate on that. Designer - the creator of the “next” that doesn’t exist at the mome...