Neri Oxman, Groundbreaking Researcher and Modern-Day Da Vinci, to Open Mendix World 2021 as Keynote Speaker

  • Oxman’s appearance to feature an exclusive presentation entitled Nature X Humanity and a moderated Q&A on innovations at the intersection of technology and biology
  • The award-winning designer, architect, and researcher will discuss her cross-disciplinary work merging organic and synthetic materials and using computational design and additive manufacturing to enable design by, for, and with nature
  • Registration is free for Mendix World, the three-day conference that kicks off on September 7 and is on track to be the world’s largest low-code event

BOSTON – August 3, 2021 – Mendix, a Siemens business and global leader in low-code application development for the enterprise, announced today that Dr. Neri Oxman, the internationally acclaimed former MIT professor, CEO of OXMAN, and award-winning researcher who pioneered the field of Material Ecology, will be a keynote speaker at Mendix World 2021.

Oxman’s presentation on September 7, Nature X Humanity, will explore the relationship between organic and synthetic materials, and its implications for society’s development of buildings, products, and tools in the face of climate change and ecological disruption. Following the presentation — which will only be available for Mendix World registrants — Oxman will sit down for a moderated Q&A discussion with Sheryl Koenigsberg, senior director of product marketing at Mendix, to dive deeper into the presentation and dissect what it means for all types of makers.

A Modern-Day Da Vinci

Hailed as “a modern-day Da Vinci” by the New York Times, Oxman previously served as the Sony Corporation Career Development Professor and Associate Professor of Media Arts and Sciences at the MIT Media Lab, where she led a research group applying design principles and elements taken from the natural world to next-generation technologies across disciplines and scales. She is now shifting from academia to real-world implementation as founder and CEO of OXMAN, her new design practice tackling the most critical challenges of our time. In her highly regarded TED Talk, Design at the Intersection of Technology and Biology, Oxman describes how her innovative creations arise from groundbreaking advancements in four interconnected technological domains: computational design, additive manufacturing (3D printing), synthetic biology, and materials engineering.

Oxman was named a Cultural Leader by the World Economic Forum and a Revolutionary Mind by SEED magazine, in recognition of her leadership in the unification of culture and nature. Together with Mother Nature, her team has demonstrated the use of biopolymers derived from trees, crustaceans, and apples as alternatives to plastics; collaborated with robots and live silkworms to fabricate architectural scale forms such as geodesic domes; and exquisite 3D printed biologically augmented masks, capes, and dresses via her novel approach of data-driven material modeling. These structures, objects, and technological platforms — among many others Oxman has developed — are featured in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, SFMOMA, the Smithsonian, Centre Georges Pompidou, the Boston Museum of Science, and other cultural institutions.

A Quintessential “Maker”

“Oxman’s interdisciplinary approach to experimentation is the quintessential definition of a maker,” says Koenigsberg. While the Mendix maker community is focused on digital outputs, and Oxman merges the digital with the physical world, Koenigsberg adds, “Oxman’s work provides startling insights into the sources of creativity that are relevant for our community, drawing from everyday objects and natural processes that surround us.”

As a researcher, Oxman looks both to ancient wisdoms and visions for the future, bridging seemingly opposing disciplines to incorporate sustainability in the industrialized world in much the same way that Mendix makers use low-code to bridge the worlds of business experts and IT specialists. “There are compelling parallels between Oxman’s approach to collaboration, reusability, and prototyping and our focus on team building, proof of concept, and scaling in digital transformation,” says Koenigsberg.

Inspiration for the Fourth Industrial Revolution

Johan den Haan, chief technology officer at Mendix, adds that Mendix World attendees from the world of manufacturing are especially well-positioned to learn from Oxman’s unique take on synergies between the physical and digital worlds.

“Digital technologies are driving a fourth industrial revolution,” says den Haan. “Manufacturers are deploying low-code to rapidly scale up operational technology with new capabilities, including AI-powered analytics and process automation, robotics, and industrial IoT, to create the smart factories of the future. Oxman’s stunning work offers an exploratory path that will astonish and inspire the global community of Mendix makers working on the future of industrial design.”

Oxman’s appearance at Mendix World 2021 on Tuesday, September 7 complements her fellow keynote speaker Simon Sinek, bestselling business author and TED Talk superstar, whose presentation takes place on September 9. Both are cultural trailblazers who inspire attendees to think beyond traditional notions of what is possible. They will be joined online by industry leaders and strategists from Fortune 500 companies offering first-hand customer stories on leveraging low-code software development in their digitalization journey. These insights, live demonstrations, and breakout sessions make up the rich content offerings across 85 sessions taking place September 7–9 at Mendix World 2021.

Coming in September: Mendix World 2021

Mendix World 2021 is on track to be the largest worldwide gathering of low-code experts, technology and business leaders, industry analysts, and software developers, who will share their first-hand experiences tackling enterprise digitalization using low-code software development. Attendees focused on digital solutions across multiple economic sectors can attend live Q&As, learning tracks, demonstrations, and small group gatherings during the three-day-long virtual conference to learn how to leverage low-code to advance their own digital initiatives.

Register for Mendix World

Early registration will ensure that attendees are up-to-date about speaker announcements and other key news heading into the conference as it happens. For more information about Mendix World and to register, please visit Mendix World 2021 Registration.

    About Mendix

    Mendix, a Siemens business, is the only low-code platform designed to address the full complexity of enterprise software development challenges. Deploying point solutions to departmental problems solves things at a micro level—but if you want to make a significant impact on your business, you need to go bigger and build powerful portfolios that move the needle sustainably and strategically.

    With Mendix, enterprises can take on more complex, transformational initiatives by engaging everyone in capturing requirements, forming ideas, and embedding value assessment throughout the lifecycle of the software portfolio.

    Focus on the right problems while relying on governance and control to avoid unnecessary risk. Mobilize your organization. Build the change readiness muscle. And when the next big idea drops, turn it into an outcome quicker.

    More than 4,000 organizations in 46 countries use the Mendix low-code platform. An active community of over 300,000 developers has created over 950,000 applications – and counting.