The theme of the Spring 2026 NRT seminar series is Sustainable Design.
Monday, February 12, 2026, 10:00 - 11:00am
Title: Bio-Design
Speaker: Emilie Snell-Rood, School of Biological Sciences
Description: Emilie will discuss a new initiative at UMN "Building with Biology" which aims to bring together the range of approaches that use biology in problem solving under one umbrella. The talk will review work on bio-inspired design and biomimetics, in addition to more sustainable approaches to using biology in design, with examples from the use of biochar and green infrastructure.
Location: Civil Engineering Building, room 202
Tuesday, March 17, 12:00-1:00pm
Title: Embedding Social Justice into Engineering
Speaker: Darshan Karwat, School for the Future Innovation in Society, Arizona State
Description: A mini workshop and group reflection with Darshan Karwat on how to consider social justice and policy in STEM research.
Location: Civil Engineering 780B
Wednesday, April 1, 2026,4:00-5:00pm,
Title: Visualizing Climate Change in the Arctic
Speaker: Steve Rowell and Hollie Leggett, Minneapolis College of Art and Design
Description: Steve Rowell and Hollie Leggett will speak about an ongoing project with the US Army Corps (CRREL) in Arctic Alaska: building digital twins of permafrost-affected communities using drones, LiDAR, photogrammetry, thermal mapping, and multi-modal field recording. The work sits at the intersection of climate infrastructure, art, design, communications and landscape change.
Location: Civil Engineering Building, room 205
Thursday, April 23, 1:30-2:30pm
Title: 3D Printing Disintegrating Blocks for Green Infrastructure
Speakers: Jessica Rossi-Mastracci & Molly Reichert, School or Architecture
Description: Ecosystem Shifts: Encoding Temporality and Material Agency in Freshwater Repair is a short talk by Molly Reichert, Jessica Rossi Mastracci, and May Hwang that presents an interdisciplinary research project exploring how 3D printed ceramic substrates can function as temporary, degradable scaffolds that support aquatic plant growth and ecological succession, demonstrating new material and computational approaches to regenerative freshwater infrastructure.
Location: Civil Engineering Building, room 202