Marc Weissburg and Jeannette Yen will offer a short course in Biologically-inspired Design Oct 15-16. This course will provide students with knowledge of natural principles that have contributed to human technological growth, and why such principles were superior to pre-existing solutions.

Bonser (Patented Biologically-inspired Technological Innovations: A Twenty Year View) shows that US patents described as bionic, biomimetic, or biologically inspired have grown exponentially from near zero in 1985 to roughly 850 in 2005. One need only spend a few minutes with Ray Anderson (Interface Carpets), Jay Harmon (PAX Scientific), or Francisco Lodatto (award winning designer) to see game-changing possibilities of BID. These examples demonstrate not only the feasibility of the method, but also a growth trend that cannot be ignored if companies wish to maintain a competitive advantage. In addition to supplying examples of previously successful principles, or potentially useful biological models, a unique feature of this course is training on how to employ BID to your own problems that is based on our considerable experience with interdisciplinary teaching and understanding of problem solving methods.

Natural systems developed under energetic and material limitations are robust, flexible, and adaptive, reduce computational complexity, and often use novel materials in surprising ways. Top application areas for BID include (but are not limited to) mechanical design, material design, civil engineering, architectural design, or green chemistry.

More information is available at:
http://www.dlpe.gatech.edu/bio, but please contact Marc (info below) if you'd like more information, and feel free to pass this on to other potentially interested parties.
Please note we're trying to be flexible on the course fee while still preserving our ability to support the center's work). If price is a big barrier to you, we'll try to work out something suitable to all.

Contact Info:
Marc Weissburg
marc.weissburg@biology.gatech.edu
Assoc. Professor and Co-director, Center for Biologically Inspired Design Professional

Jeannette Yen
jeannette.yen@biology.gatech.edu
Professor, School of Biology Director, Center for Biologically-Inspired Design
404-385-1596