Toronto host
Mar Reyes
@designbymar
Irwin Adam
– Hosted at Design Exchange
About the speaker
Dr. Irwin Adam is a creative scientist and food futurist who combines a background in engineering, biology, and technology with his passions for eating and design in the exploration of global eating futures. He is a thinker and maker who creates defining multi-sensorial food experiences including products, new technologies, immersive dining installations, and interactive workshops. As Founder and Creative Scientific Director of Future Food Studio and Founding Partner of Museum of Ice Cream, Dr. Irwin Adam leads multi-disciplinary teams in re-imagining how we interact with food at every scale. Brand collaborations include Pepsico, Unilever, General Mills, Campbell’s, Kraft, & ABI InBev with projects in the US, Canada, Middle East, and Europe.
He holds a B.Eng. and M.Eng. (Chemical Engineering) from McGill University and a PhD (Biomedical Engineering) from the University of Toronto. Research publications and patents include natural compounds for anti-infective biomaterials, point-of-care diagnostics, miniature lasers, digital microfluidics, and tissue-engineering. His current research focuses on cross-modal personalized eating.
He is currently writing a book on the future of food and eating and developing a digital series exploring the same.
His work has been featured across media including Vice, New York Times, Popular Science, Today Show, National Geographic, Creator’s Project, Globe & Mail, Toronto Star, Gothamist, Eater, Refinery29, Forbes.
Local partners
Local Partner - Havas Canada
Havas Canada is the Canadian division of a global integrated communication agency that brings digital, mobile, media, and creative services to local and global brands. With reach into 121 markets, Havas helps Canada’s leading brands become market leaders, while trailblazing into new markets worldwide. The Havas Digital team in Toronto has a special focus on digital strategy, user experience, responsive web and app design and development. Our team has extensive experience in the re-imagining and re-launching of complex websites and user experiences for major brands.
Venue Partner - Design Exchange
Design Exchange, is Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the pursuit of design excellence and preservation of design heritage. At the crossroads of multiple disciplines, from furniture and architecture to graphics and fashion, our exhibitions, talks, workshops, and youth education programs are curated to reflect the popular zeitgeist and contemporary culture while demonstrating the relevance and importance of design to everyday life. They are committed to delivering accessible design experiences and education and aim to provide the tools necessary to connect design learning to the ordinary and extraordinary.
Printing Partner - PrintNGOriginally from Newfoundland, Nola Grimes brought her passion for art and creativity to the printing industry over 20 years ago and has been managing all types of print projects for a diverse group of clients ever since. She enjoys working with designers and being part of the creative process. Over the years, Nola has built relationships with a network of suppliers and can produce everything from small postcard orders to catalogs and signage. Whether the project is simple, with a tight budget or more complex, with embossing and other special effects, Nola can help you meet your objectives and treats every order with equal care.
Accessibility Partner - The Forward Movement
The Forward Movement is an accessibility awareness and advocacy campaign working to get Ontario to adopt the use of the Dynamic Symbol of Access as an alternative to the currently used symbol. The Dynamic Symbol is an improvement to the old symbol in two major ways: (i) the person in the new image is more defined than the one in the old image, and (ii) the new image shows movement, a symbolic action that emphasizes differing abilities, and this reframes the way society views and interacts with people with a disability. The new symbol is also meant to spark conversations to educate the Ontarians about the importance of removing barriers—both physical and cultural—to make Ontario more accessible and inclusive for everyone.
