We caught up with Cinzia Silvestri in Delft in the Netherlands, where she and her colleagues in Bi/ond (pronounced “beyond”) work on cutting edge research at the intersection of biology and engineering. The microchips built by Bi/ond recreate key aspects of human organs, such as the beating
of a heart. Cinzia and her team are based at the Yes! Delft start-up incubator at the southern end of the TU Delft campus.
Tell us a little bit about your background.
My background is in engineering and micro-electronics. After completing my PhD I worked as a postdoctoral researcher here at the Technical University of Delft.
Among all the scientific innovations that have worked on, is there one which you are particularly proud of?
I am very proud of our organ on a chip. (An organ-on-a-chip is a small device lined with living human cells for drug development, disease modelling, and personalised medicine. The microenvironment of the chip
simulates the cells that are being studied.) It is a bit like the digital twin in real estate - that is, a digital representation of a physical asset,
process, or system that allows for predictive modelling and proactive adjustments.
How can the physical/built environment encourage better innovation among scientists and engineers?
Innovation is encouraged when scientists and engineers from different fields share space. This helps us all to think about how the world might look in 10 years. When there is cross-fertilisation of ideas, it inspires us. People are forced to find a common language, and this helps to build shared knowledge.
If you had unlimited money but limited space (no more than 1,000 sq m), what would you build?
I would build a shared lab. It would be horizontal rather than multi-layered because moving between layers can inhibit communication. So, it would be
a single storey building. Glass would be a dominant material so everyone can see everyone else, and all the equipment would be shared, like open-
source software. This kind of environment is inspiring. For one day of the month we do something we call “Ridiculously extreme experiments” and the shared lab I’m describing would work a bit like that.
In terms of driving innovation, how important is cross-discipline cooperation?
Cooperation across different branches of science is very important in driving innovation, and so is cooperation between science and business. Thinking about business models and products (for example, the consumer products within B2B2C businesses) can also help to drive innovation.
Can the design of a building foster such cooperation?
A building that is designed to be sustainable and to encourage diversity and inclusion will foster cooperation better. For example, a building that has prayer rooms for all denominations and rooms for breastfeeding will encourage diversity and inclusion. The fittings need to suit people of all
sizes too. Here in the Netherlands people tend to be quite tall but I am Italian, and I wasn’t tall enough to see myself in the bathroom mirrors. Mirror height has now been adjusted in all the bathrooms in the incubator,
without any fuss. This example illustrates how important it is for the manager of an incubator to be open-minded and approachable.
