Angelo Vermeulen is a space biologist, computational designer, complex systems engineer, and artist. He holds a PhD in developmental biology and ecology from KU Leuven. Currently, he is in the final stages of completing his second PhD at TU Delft, developing bio-inspired concepts for interstellar exploration, with a focus on self-replicating architecture and biological life support systems. Vermeulen is the CTO (Chief Technology Officer) at SpaceBorn United, a company that focuses on the development of technologies for human reproduction in space. He has a profound interest in complexity science and is fascinated by principles of self-organisation, emergence and evolution, in both the domains of art and science. In 2013 he served as Crew Commander of the first NASA-funded HI-SEAS Mars simulation in Hawaii, and in 2022 he reached the final 6% of candidates during the ESA Astronaut Selection process. Vermeulen is currently an expert at ITACCUS (IAF Committee for the Cultural Utilisation of Space), and previously at ETTAS (European Space Agency Topical Team Arts & Science). He co-founded SEADS (Space Ecologies Art and Design), a cross-cultural collective of artists, scientists, engineers, and activists. In 2019 and 2020, SEADS sent its Ēngines of Ēternity art project twice to the International Space Station. Vermeulen was named Belgian Tech Pioneer in 2017 (De Tijd), received fellowships in the US (TED, Parsons School for Design), and has been awarded for his transdisciplinary creative work. To date, he wrote over 50 publications covering his research in art and science.

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