This talk was given to the School of Life Sciences Research Staff Association at the University of Dundee on 30th May 2017.

2. Why look to nature for innovation?30th May 2017 - University of Dundee

3. Innovation: Small Child!

4. Why take
inspiration?
What is
bioinspiration?
How has it
been
achieved?
When was it
developed?
Where is it
most
successful?

5. WHAT is learning from nature?

6. Innovation: SLIPS Technologies (http://www.slipstechnologies.com/
Super-
hydrophobic
surfaces

7. Innovation: Institute for Fluid Mechanics and Aerodynamics - TUDF
(http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-7580.2011.01384.x/abstract)
Micro-vortexes

8. Innovation: DuPont (http://bit.ly/2m8veW4)
Strength +
lightweight
materials

9. Innovation: General Electric (http://invent.ge/2m4Gq9f)
Structural colour

10. Innovation: University of Stuttgart / Flectofin
(http://www.blogionik.org/flectofin-hingless-flapping-mechanism/)
Hingeless
mechanisms

11. Adapted from H2020 research
Biomimetics SustainabilityBiomimicry
Bioinspiration
Bionics
Biologically Inspired Design
Nature-inspired
Engineering
Neo-Biomimetic
Engineering

12. Concept TransformationOrganism Design
Indirect transformational relationship

13. Research-led

14. Industry-led

15. Source: Terrapin Bright Green - Tapping into Nature
(https://www.terrapinbrightgreen.com/report/tapping-nature/)

17. Source: Chemistry Innovation Knowledge Transfer Network
Periodic Table of
Endangered
Elements

18. Source: University of Bath
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1664643/)
substance
structure
space
energy
time
information

19. Source: University of Bath
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1664643/)

20. Source: University of Bath
(https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1664643/)
Technology
3%
55%
5%
19%
4%
14%
Biology
18%
6%
12%
25%
30%
9%
Substance
Structure
Space
Time
Energy
Information

21. Source: ichthyosaur - Wikimedia Commons
Reptile - Ichthyosaur
Fish - Shark
Bird - Penguin
Mammal - Dolphin
Convergent
Evolution

22. Technical Parallel
Innovation

23. WHERE did it develop?

24. Leonardo da Vinci
1452-1519
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

25. Dr. Charles Darwin
1809-1882
Alfred Russel Wallace
1823-1913
D’Arcy W. Thompson
1860-1948
Image credits: Wikimedia Commons

26. – D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson
"The harmony of the world is made manifest in Form and
Number, and the heart and soul and all the poetry of Natural
Philosophy are embodied in the concept of mathematical
beauty.”

27. Dr. Otto Schmitt
1913-1998
Col. (Ret.) Jack Steele M.D.
1924-2009
Dr. Julian Vincent
still rockin’
Janine Benyus
1958-present
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

28. – Dr. Julian Vincent
“…one of the basic features of living systems is the appearance
of autonomy or independence of action, with a degree of
unexpectedness directly related to the complexity of the living
system. This gives living systems great adaptability and
versatility, but at the expense of the predictability of the
system’s behaviour by an external observer. In general, we do
not accept unpredictability in technical systems; indeed, we
avoid it.”

29. Source: Vogel, S (1998) Cats, Paws and Catapults
Uses less flat
and more
curved
surfaces.
Take advantage
of diffusion,
surface tension,
and laminar flow.
Uses nonrigid
bodies that
reconfigure in
flows.
Objects bend,
twist, or stretch
at predetermined
places.
Uses foams and
composites to
fill cracks.
Very often loads
in tension.
Structures with
tensile sheaths
outside and
pressurised
fluid inside.

30. Source: Vogel, S (1998) Cats, Paws and Catapults
Constant
maintenance,
but often self-
repair.
Technology is
wet.
Factories often
produce things
larger, not
smaller, than
themselves.
Overwhelmingly
prefers
submarines.
Engines are
based on
sliding or
contracting.
Stores
mechanical work
as elastic
energy.

31. – Christopher Alexander (1977)
“A pattern is a careful description of a perennial solution to a recurring problem…
describing one of the configurations that brings life… . Each pattern describes a problem
that occurs over and over again in our environment, and then describes the core solution
to that problem, in such a way that you can use the solution a million times over, without
ever doing it the same way twice."

32. Common MISCONCEPTIONS

34. Hierarchal
structure of femur
bone

35. Barthelat, F el al (2016) https://www.nature.com/articles/natrevmats20167

36. Shinkansen
500 series

37. Mashimo, S., et al (1997).
Attenuation and Distortion of a Compression Wave Propagating in a High-Speed Railwav Tunnel.
Kingfisher

38. Image credit: International Business Times

39. Lauder, G., and J. Oeffner. (2012)
Hydrodynamic function of shark skin and two biomimetic models.
structure of
different shark
skins

41. Eastgate Centre,
Harrare

42. Turner, J.S. and Soar, R.C., (2008), May.
Beyond biomimicry: What termites can tell us about realizing the living building.
Namibian
termite mound
(& cheetah!)

43. Source: https://insectsdiditfirst.com

44. Sensors + Systems

48. Source: Dr Rupert Soar: Freeform Construction Ltd

49. Fungus farm

50. external
influences
property sensor
effector
offset external
influences
deposit
clay
increase
pheromone
Adapted from Dr Rupert Soar: Freeform Construction Ltd

51. Source: Dr Rupert Soar: Freeform Construction Ltd
Turbulent
eddy flows
Mound skin
structure
Enclosed
space
CO2 / O2 gradient

52. Source: Dr Rupert Soar: Freeform Construction Ltd
Fungus farm

54. Innovation: Airbus
(http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/story-overview/Pioneering-bionic-3D-printing.html)

55. Superorganism -
slime mould

56. Slime mould
algorithm

57. Innovation: Airbus
(http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/story-overview/Pioneering-bionic-3D-printing.html)

58. Innovation: Airbus
(http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/story-overview/Pioneering-bionic-3D-printing.html)

59. Innovation: General Electric
(http://invent.ge/2m4Gq9f)
Innovation: Airbus
(http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/story-overview/Pioneering-bionic-3D-printing.html)
45% reduction
in weight

60. Innovation: Airbus
(http://www.airbusgroup.com/int/en/story-overview/Pioneering-bionic-3D-printing.html)

61. Beneath the waves

62. Image credit: Wikimedia Commons
Jacques
Cousteau

63. Further reading: Anderson, I.A., Vincent, J.F.V, Montgomery, J.C. (2016)
Ocean Innovation. Biomimetics Beneath the Waves
Homo
Aquaticus

64. Alessandro Volta
1745-1827
Image credit: Wikimedia Commons

65. Further reading: Pancaldi, G (2003). Volta, Science and Culture in the Age of Enlightenment.
Electric Ray

66. Sharkskin

67. Innovation: Sharklet Technologies
Bacterial
inhibiting surface

68. Innovation: McGill University
(http://bam.lab.mcgill.ca/project_pages/biomimetic-composite.html)
Self-repairing
materials

69. Source: D’Elia, E. et al (2016) http://www.nature.com/articles/srep25059
Brickwork-like
structure

70. Source: D’Elia, E. et al (2016) http://www.nature.com/articles/srep25059

71. Squid processing

72. Schmitt, O.H., (1938). A thermionic trigger. Journal of Scientific Instruments, 15(1), p.24.

73. Davenport, J., Hughes, R.N., Shorten, M. and Larsen, P.S., 2011.
Drag reduction by air release promotes fast ascent….Marine Ecology Progress Series, 430, pp.171-182.

74. Final Thoughts…

75. – R Buckminster Fuller
"In order to change an existing paradigm you do not struggle
to try and change the problematic model. You create a new
model and make the old one obsolete."

76. Organism Design
Concept Transformation
featurewordingfeature
Product Semantics Biological Analysis

77. Source: Business Insider: 2017 4 Basic Problems

78. Complexity
modelling

79. Integrate
Complexity
Vast array of
ideas
Embrace
Technology

80. Thank you!
Richard James MacCowan
Co-Founder | Director
richard@bio-uk.org | bio-uk.org | @Biomimicry_UK