By Neil B. McGahee

Anything we can do, Mother Nature seems to have done it first - and better. That's why researchers from Georgia Tech's Center for Biologically Inspired Design are turning to the natural world for solutions to real-world problems.

"Natural systems must cope with environmental changes and innovations to survive," Jeannette Yen, CBID director and professor of biology, says. "Biologically inspired design or biomimetics allow us to take ideas from nature and incorporate them in modern technologies such as engineering, design and logistics."

The concept of biomimetics is very old - Leonardo da Vinci observed birds when building his unsuccessful flying machine in 1496 - but has gathered momentum recently due to advances in technologies.

"Perhaps the best known result of biologically inspired design is the development of Velcro," Yen says. "In the 1940s, a Swiss scientist was removing burrs from his dog when he realized how the hooks of the burrs clung to the fur." The discovery inspired him to create the unique two-sided fastener.

Yen and biology associate professor Marc Weissburg, co-director of CBID, had known each other for years through their mutual interest in marine biology. Weissburg was researching marine animals' ability to use their sense of smell to find food or a mate while Yen was studying plankton's ability to find a mate through similar olfactory location.

"Our research naturally lends itself to working with engineers," Weissburg says. "That's why we're at Tech. I came here because I knew that engineers could help me understand biology in a better way. There's not enough time in my life for me to learn as much about fluid dynamics as they do or for them to learn as much about biology as I do. Given the natural connections, we decided to develop a center that would promote collaborations between engineers and biologists."

Weissburg, an associate biology professor, and Don Webster, an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, are studying marine animals to understand how they use chemical signals to track objects - information that may be used to make robotic sensor systems for underwater vehicle navigation.

Mechanical engineering professors Minami Yoda, a fluid dynamicist, and Peter H. Rogers, an acoustician, are researching the auditory retina, a concept based on motion sensors found in a fish's ear. Industrial and systems engineering professor Craig Tovey studied honeybees to find effective Web-hosting methods.

Materials science and engineering professor Ken Sandhage and biochemistry professor Nils Kroger are studying diatoms to discover processes for building nanostructures. Polymer, textile and fiber engineering professor Mohan Srinivasarao studied the morpho and discovered the brilliant blue butterfly produced its shimmering shades of blue and green not with pigments but by light reflection.

Hang Lu, an assistant professor in the School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, believes a worm may provide clues into the way memories are formed and retained in the human brain.

Biomimetics proponents say that recent discoveries are just the tip of an iceberg of knowledge to be gleaned from nature.

"We have always looked at the Earth as an infinite resource where we take and discard, suffering huge losses of energy, whereas natural organisms coordinate input and output to create complete ecological functions," Weissburg says. "Organisms are a big book of design solutions."

©2007 Georgia Tech Alumni Association