Bioinspiration

Catalog description

In the 3.8 billion years since life began on Earth, nature has evolved. Inspired by this process, humans have replicated key design features to develop novel materials, devices, and structures in fields such as the arts, design, engineering, and the social sciences by replicating key design principles and features. This course asks how biology has inspired human design and thinking across different cultures and fields. Students will examine various examples in engineering, art, architecture, music, and social science to discuss how the human capacity for analogical reasoning has enabled the transfer of properties, mechanisms, and ideas from biology to design principles such as shape, surface, structure, making, information-processing, and social behavior. Using bio-inspired products such as gecko tape, Velcro, self-cleaning surfaces, and neuromorphic chips for inspiration, students will develop their own designs to address some of the 21st century's most pressing issues, such as energy, water, environment, food, and health.