Hyundai Motor Group and Rhode Island School of Design Collaborate on Regenerative Biodesign Strategies and the Future of Mobility
Hyundai Motor Group (the Group) and Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) are pleased to continue their pioneering multiyear research partnership exploring the relationship between nature, art and design, and the future of mobility. This year’s theme, “Motion Rewild,” investigates adaptation in uncontrolled environments and using energy the way nature does, exploring motion across extreme environments.
Now in its seventh year, the unique partnership promotes innovative ways of seeing and making through a range of approaches. The collaboration brings together RISD faculty and staff members, student researchers, and designers from Hyundai, Genesis, and Kia working together to study biomimicry and biodesign as a pathway toward developing innovative materials, products, manufacturing methods, services, and experiences. The Regeneration Studio, led by an advanced scientific team in RISD’s Edna W. Lawrence Nature Lab together with studio faculty and experts from across RISD’s networks, brings to life new concepts in bio-innovation, decoding natural environments, systems, processes, and organisms and applying nature’s principles to designs that are more circular and less harmful to the planet.
Through the lens of “Motion Rewild,” this year the Regeneration Studio undertakes a pioneering study of physical AI mobility – robots operating in uncontrolled environments. Researchers are taking their cues from nature, the oldest engineer, which works in unstructured spaces including disaster sites, where mobility is needed most.
The programming for the year includes a fall advanced biodesign for mobility studio course, a second advanced studio course in the spring, and an extended summer research opportunity, including two-week intensives and five-week fellowships for Hyundai Motor Group designers and engineers.
The two studio courses combine scientific rigor with creative inquiry, supported by RISD’s Industrial Design department and the Nature Lab, and operate as an interdisciplinary workspace for a cohort of students from multiple departments on campus. Within this framework, faculty and students work in conversation with Hyundai Motor Group design engineers to discover and decode nature’s motion principles, how to design and build working forms based on those principles, how to push further through prototyping, and how to validate findings within the context of the mobility industry. The materials and methods explored through this immersive process will support the Hyundai Motor Group’s research on the future of mobility, creating design solutions that demonstrate real-world applications and potential impacts.
In the summer, teams of Hyundai Motor Group designers and engineers will engage in a nine-day intensive on campus, and select Fellows will fully immerse themselves in developing regenerative strategies and structural innovations within the Nature Lab during a five-week stay.
“Hyundai Motor Group has become a significant academic and creative collaborator, and we are pleased to continue this partnership,” said RISD President Crystal Williams. “The Regeneration Studio is an incredible opportunity for RISD students, faculty, and staff to exchange knowledge and ideas with designers who are trusted international colleagues and thought partners. Applying principles that are present in the natural world and focus on sustainable explorations of AI will allow us to have another year of productive learning and discovery through this forward-looking relationship.”
“At a time when technology is advancing at an unprecedented pace, our design begins with a deep understanding of people and nature,” said SangYup Lee, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai & Genesis Global Design. “Nature has adapted to countless changes over time, accumulating its own solutions. We have made these natural principles the foundation of our design and technology, and I believe this is the essential asset that enables us to respond responsibly to any change.”
“As the years pass, RISD’s relationship with the Hyundai Motor Group strengthens and our common vision expands in ways that respects each entity’s identity and goals,” said RISD Provost Touba Ghadessi. “We are heartened to see design explorations through nature’s endless gifts serve to reinforce our ethos, move innovation forward at a rapid pace, and provide future-proof solutions at a large scale.
“Nature teaches us that enduring motion is not about overcoming every obstacle through force, but about adapting intelligently to changing conditions,” said Karim Habib, Executive Vice President and Head of Kia Global Design. “By studying how living systems move through complexity and adapt to uncertainty, we uncover new principles for mobility. At the intersection of nature’s ancient intelligence and emerging artificial intelligence, we see an opportunity for human creativity to shape technologies that are not only more resilient and responsive, but more responsible in how they serve people and help sustain the world we share.”
The Regeneration Studio continues to build upon the distinctive collaborative research platform designed solely for Hyundai Motor Group in 2019 by RISD Academic and Creative Partnerships and the Nature Lab. RISD faculty and Nature Lab scientists and researchers have guided students through various modes of inquiry since the collaboration began. Hyundai Motor Group designers provide valuable feedback throughout the process.
To learn more about the Regeneration Studio, please visit risd.edu/academics/academic-creative-partnerships/risd-hmg