"Today I am a small blue thing like a marble or an eye." -- Suzanne Vega

Last Thursday night I attended Design Night at the Autodesk Gallery. This is a new thing for Autodesk. The Gallery team has launched a new program called Design Night that will be held in the Autodesk Gallery at One Market on the first Thursday of every month. At each event, guests will explore a different theme – such as biomimicry, light, or robotics – that challenges the conventionally narrow definition of design. The theme will be reflected in all aspects of the event, from the activities guests enjoy to the food they eat to the music they hear.

The evening had a full agenda.

While waiting for the main presentation, I treated myself to a BaNANO split.

The ice cream for the traditional banana split was created with liquid nitrogen. I topped mine with sugar crystals. Tasting ice cream as part of your job responsibilities is a tough gig, but somebody's go to do it.

The lecture for the night was presented by Dr. Drew Endy, a synthetic biologist, from Stanford and the BioBricks Foundation. Dr. Endy's work centers on the advancement of standardized biologically engineered parts. Dr. Endy lectured to a standing-room-only crowd.

Dr. Endy covered living organisms from their tiniest bits (atom) all the way up to their full structures. He used the example of a sea sponge made of silica. The research suggests that science should be able to engineer the process of creating living things. His prediction is that this work will make great strides in the immediate future and for the next 70 years.

The next Design Night is entitled From Idealism to Realism, focusing on Public Interest Design, and is scheduled for October 4 - mark your calendars. You can learn more about this topic on the Public Interest Design site. Come check out the gallery.

Nightlife is alive in the lab