VIVIEN ROUSSEL — HTGAA Spring 2026
About me
I’m a designer-researcher working at the intersection of living matter, digital fabrication, and speculative design. My work explores how biological processes and biomaterials can reshape how we design, make, and interact with artifacts in a climate-challenged world. My research focuses on hybrid fabrication strategies using bacterial cellulose to grow biohybrid devices that combine computation, interaction, and material sustainability.
I’m currently pursuing a PhD in digital biofabrication at the Institute for Future Technology at Paris, in collaboration with the Chrome biology lab and the design lab Projekt at Nîmes University. I’m also Visiting Student at MIT Media Lab (between april - may - june 2026) at Community Biotechnology Initiative.
Contact info
Homework
Week 1 HW: Principles and Practices
Table of Contents 1) Biological engineering application / tool 2) Governance / policy goals 3) Governance actions 4) Risk analysis 5) Scoring governance actions 6) Prioritization recommendation 7) Reflection 8) Project + governance overview Homework Questions from Professor Jacobson Homework Questions from Dr. LeProust Homework Question from George Church 1) Biological engineering application / tool I want to develop (and why) Application / tool: Growing interactive surfaces from bacterial cellulose I already know how to grow 3D artifacts in bacterial cellulose (BC). In this project, I want to develop a biological functionalization workflow that turns grown BC artifacts into interactive surfaces, measured through impedance-based sensing (e.g., tactile volumetric response, sensitivity to pressure), with minimal embedded electronics.
Week 02 HW: DNA Read, Write, & Edit
Table of Contents 0. Basics of Gel Electrophoresis
- Benchling and In-silico Gel Art
- Gel Art Restriction Digests and Electrophoresis 3.1 Choose Your Protein Protein sequence (from Supplementary Data 1) Structural micro-analysis: copper coordination and catalysis Why this protein matters 3.2 Reverse translate 3.3 Codon optimization 3.4 You have a sequence now what
table of matter Assignment: Python Script for Opentrons Artwork https://opentrons-art.rcdonovan.com/?id=sux110hip535fnx Statement of Intent — Why Reaction–Diffusion I have been playing with reaction–diffusion algorithms for a long time. I keep returning to them out of curiosity — both for their history (their direct link to Alan Turing’s work on emergent patterns) and for what they suggest in terms of morphogenesis.