The ways in which we produced and consumed food in the last fifty years had devastating impacts on ecosystems and human societies. The agro-industrial sector contributed exceeding 4 of the 9 thresholds that determine the planetary limits — climate change, loss of biodiversity, alterations to the nitrogen and phosphorus cycle, changes in land use. The consumption of unhealthy food is causing very serious health problems, and while almost a billion people do not have food, we throw away quantities of food that would be enough to feed them without problems. It’s clear that the current system, based on a strictly linear logic, does not work, and that the transition to a circular economy would bring enormous benefits to the environment and to consumers.

A logic that can be partially attributed to the knowledge and traditions of rural culture, in which everything was reused, and which could encourage awareness of the dynamics and cultural relations underlying the act of eating. Thinking in systems is the necessary condition for the understanding of how the different elements influence each other in the food system, in a flow of experiences that nurtures the development of resilient production systems, capable of sustaining the balance between man and the ecosystems.

We need to develop new alliances based on shared values and goals, to put an end on the behavioural disaster that accompanies the irrational depletion of resources and try to knit back together the social tapestry that must turn into the pivot of the change we wish for. Each and every one of us, is called to act for this change, be it as an individual or as part of a community acting in an environment, living in it and modifying it.

• Biography

  • Franco Fassio is a systemic designer, professor at the University of Gastronomic Science Studies (UNISG), National Counsellor of Slow Food, member of the permanent Design ADI Observatory (Food Design) and ASviS Alleanza Italiana per lo Sviluppo Sostenibile (SDGs 2, Zero Hunger), director of the Systemic Food Design Lab (UNISG), Circular Economy for Food Monitor (UNISG) and project manager SEeD for Global Goals (Slow Food). PhD in Design Culture (Polytechnic of Turin), he is specialised in the development of research projects that use ecodesign and systemic design instruments for food sustainability. UNISG professor of Gastronomic Design Sciences, EcoDesign, Food Design and Food Packaging, Company Creation, Systemic Design for Circular Economy, Designing Sustainability, he is author of numerous scientific studies as the recent book “Fassio F., Tecco N. (2018), Circular Economy for Food. Matter, energy and knowledge, in a circle, Edizioni Ambiente”. In 2015, 2016 and 2017 his projects entered the ADI Index, the publication for the best Italian design. He was awarded with many national and international acknowledgements, like the EWWR Award 2017, Oasis ambiente 2017, SERR 2016, A Green Inspiration Award 2012, Smau Mob APP Award 2012, Biennale Italia 2010 e 2008.

Major advances in the three-dimensional (3D) printing technologies have enabled the creation of a wide array of 3D-printed products, such as prosthetics, medical implants, airplane parts, building materials and food. While 3D printing technologies can make possible arbitrary-shaped structures, one challenging is the integration of microelectronic components and circuitry for various applications. Specifically, customizing the layer-by-layer 3D manufacturing process with the combination of both polymeric and metallic materials is an attractive proposition. However, the state-of-art 3D printers can only produce either polymer structures with poor conductivity or fully connected metal structures - making them unsuitable for microelectronic device applications. We have been working to address this problem by printing 3D-shaped resistor, capacitor, and inductor devices composed of hollow polymer tubes. By injecting silver paste into the tubes and curing the metal, they are able to generate intricate yet functional 3D circuits. One demonstration example is a “smart cap”—a working wireless sensing system incorporated into a milk carton lid without the need of battery power. The sensor detects the changes in the liquid dielectric constant due to the possible spoilage via the mechanism of a varying capacitor. By monitoring the resonant frequency shifts of a 3D microelectronics made of a resistor-inductor-capacitor circuitry, the in situ monitoring of milk quality can be achieved wirelessly. I will also discuss our efforts on 3D-printed metal conductors toward the fully integrated production of 3D microelectronics as a new class of manufacturing methodology for a variety of potential applications.

• Biography

  • Professor Liwei Lin is the James Marshall Wells Professor at the Mechanical Engineering Department and Co-Director at Berkeley Sensor and Actuator Center (BSAC) at UC Berkeley, and Co-Deputy Director of Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute. His research interests are in design, modeling and fabrication of micro/nano structures; sensors and actuators; as well as mechanical issues in micro/nano systems including heat transfer, solid/fluid mechanics and dynamics. Dr. Lin is the recipient of the 1998 NSF CAREER Award for research in MEMS Packaging and the 1999 ASME Journal of Heat Transfer best paper award for his work on micro scale bubble formation. He led the effort to establish the MEMS division in ASME and served as the founding Chairman of the Executive Committee from 2004~2005. He is an ASME Fellow and has 20 issued US patents in the area of MEMS. He was the general co-chair of the 24th international conference on Micro Electro Mechanical Systems at Cancun, Mexico. Currently, he serves as a subject editor for the IEEE/ASME Journal of Microelectromechanical Systems and the North and South America Editor of Sensors and Actuators –A Physical.