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Nature Provides Design Template for Human Problems By Jane Sanders Georgia Institute of Technology November 1, 2005 Atlanta (October 28, 2005) — Copying the ideas of others is usually frowned upon, but when it comes to the work of Mother Nature, scientists are finding they can use nature as a template. An interdisciplinary group of scientists and engineers at the Georgia Institute of Technology recently formed the Center for Biologically Inspired Design (CBID) with the goal of capitalizing on the rich source of design solutions present in biological processes. The researchers believe nature can inspire design and engineering solutions that are efficient, practical and sustainable and thus have the potential to greatly enhance new technologies, materials and processes. "They can provide solutions for more efficient manufacturing and design of materials with new capabilities, for example. These are things the biological world has solved, and if you study them, you have the opportunity to apply that knowledge in the human sector. You can also extend that reasoning to ecological processes. These are guiding principles behind the Georgia Tech Center for Biologically Inspired Design." CBID's mission is to promote world-class interdisciplinary research and education at Georgia Tech in biologically inspired design. CBID researchers also want to communicate to government and industry officials that nature can provide unique design solutions to the problems they must address.
Bioneers is a network of citizens, scientists and entrepreneurs that explores practical solutions adapted from natural systems and native cultures and then applies these solutions to fundamental environmental, economic and social challenges. Its long-term goal is to engage leaders in various fields in a conversation and learning process to help them understand the root causes of the region's economic, social and environmental problems, according to its Website. Then leaders can make decisions based on the long-term impacts on the broader community and the natural environment. "This is a key invitation for us," Yen said. "It's a great opportunity to get connected locally with leaders in the region." Yen presented the mission and activities of CBID, which formed this past summer with a three-year internal seed grant. The idea for the center began with discussions between Yen and Weissburg. Weissburg's interest grew out of his research for the Office of Naval Research on understanding olfactory guidance in crabs. The Navy was interested in this process because it wanted to build autonomous devices with a similar capability, he explained.
"We wanted to see how nature does things like gathering and transporting energy, and then see if we can translate those processes for human applications," Yen said. "Georgia Tech is a great place to do this kind of research. It provides engineers who want to apply their expertise with biologists a new way to design solutions to problems." After this experience, the idea for the center developed further with the help of a biological metaphor – that of an "invasive" species, with the Center as the new species and Georgia Tech as the established community that is productive and successful. "Invasive species can have a negative connotation, but we're not talking about disrupting the community," Weissburg explained. "We're talking about augmenting it and adding to its functionality and activity. We used the analogy of a new species trying to fit into a community as a way to think about what our center could do to increase the productivity of the Tech ‘ecosystem.'" As CBID encourages interaction among its initial 17 members, Yen expects an increase in biomimetic research – that is, research in biologically inspired design. Already, however, biomimetic research projects are under way in biosensing, materials design, locomotory devices, systems organization and "green" technology. Examples include:
Research News & Publications Office Georgia Institute of Technology 75 Fifth Street, N.W., Suite 100 Atlanta, Georgia 30308 USA Related Links: Jeannette Yen | Marc Weissburg About Georgia Institute of Technology The Georgia Institute of Technology is one of the nation's premiere research universities. Ranked ninth among U.S. News & World Report's top public universities, Georgia Tech educates more than 17,000 students every year through its Colleges of Architecture, Computing, Engineering, Liberal Arts, Management and Sciences. Tech maintains a diverse campus and is among the nation's top producers of women and African-American engineers. The Institute offers research opportunities to both undergraduate and graduate students and is home to more than 100 interdisciplinary units plus the Georgia Tech Research Institute. During the 2004-2005 academic year, Georgia Tech reached $357 million in new research award funding. This is a modified press release from the Georgia Institute of Technology. The original version can be found at http://www.gatech.edu/news-room/release.php?id=684 News index | RSS | Add to MyYahoo! Advertisements: Organic Apparel from Patagonia | Insect-repelling clothing |
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Georgia Tech researchers have observed that when blue crabs get a whiff of odor from potential prey, they will move upstream into the current to pursue the cue. As they navigate, they use their legs as an extended sensing array to steer through the flow toward the odor. Image courtesy of Don Webster and Marc Weissburg at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
Blue crabs appear to perform a cost-benefit analysis in deciding how to position their bodies in response to food odors injected with dye during flume experiments. The crabs position themselves at a large angle relative to the flow so they can better receive chemical signals necessary to easily navigate upstream. This takes a lot of energy because of increased drag force, but they decide it's worth the effort for the payoff, researchers say. Image courtesy of Don Webster and Marc Weissburg at the Georgia Institute of Technology.
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