Activity: Participating in or organising an event types › Organiser of special symposia
Description
Biomimetics is the implementation of design instances and processes derived from biology. It can be direct (Velcro), indirect (flight distance derived from optical flow in bees) or abstract (development of systems for producing inventive solutions to problems).
To many observers of the current practise of biomimetics, it all depends on finding – by chance – biological processes which can be turned to some use, but, you still need the mindset. Georges de Mestral would not have invented Velcro without having experienced trouble with his wife’s zip a few days earlier, and realising that there was a need for a simpler zip-like mechanism. However, such random connections are not reliable, and biomimetics will simply end as an interesting but not very practical adjunct to design which has little impact. What we do need is a properly crafted “bridge” between biology and engineering.