Design Lessons from Nature
Duration: 4 to 8 hours
Target Audience: Engineers, product designers, R&D managers, corporate heads
Brief:
Nature's designs are superb examples of simplicity and efficiency. Nature's design process also is highly efficient. Examples that may be covered are: Leaf-Solar cell, Cocklebur-Velcro, Lotus leaf-Hydrophobic surfaces, Mosquito-Hypodermic needles, Abalone shell-Crack-proof ceramics, Spider silk-Kevlar, Bioluminescence-Firefly, OLEDs-Bioluminescent organisms, Fasteners-Gecko, Organic batteries-Electric eel, Sonar-Bat, Shark skin-Swimmer suit, Self-healing structures-Human body.
I met SRI RAM ‘SIR’ first time in the third week of 1986, about 28 years ago. That was my luck, purely a Divine providence. In the years that followed SIR gave me two insights about creation (design, manufacturing and recycling in human language) about the same time. These two insights set my ‘thinking’ in motion, and I have thought about it, deeply meditated upon, for the last 28 years. These two insights that SIR gave me long ago are:
I met SRI RAM ‘SIR’ first time in the third week of 1986, about 28 years ago. That was my luck, purely a Divine providence. In the years that followed SIR gave me two insights about creation (design, manufacturing and recycling in human language) about the same time. These two insights set my ‘thinking’ in motion, and I have thought about it, deeply meditated upon, for the last 28 years. These two insights that SIR gave me long ago are:
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Insight-1 : All human technologies (design and manufacturing) are pale imitations of NATURE.
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Insight-2 : Each of her creations embodies form, function, beauty and joy . (Unsurpassed by any of the human creations, no matter which field of science or engineering).
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Primo Levi, an Italian writer, asked , “Would all the philosophers and all the armies of the world be able to construct a fly?” A small insect such as a honeybee is a miracle of Nature’s robotics. Creating a honeybee like miniature flying machine in the labs, most optimistically, will take another 100 or 200 years. Even then, a further thought shows that it may not be really possible even after such a time.
Nature is the greatest creator. She has been creating astounding variety of both non-life (Ex: a Diamond) and life-forms (Ex: a Honeybee) on this planet. Each of her creations embodies form, function, beauty and joy. She has been using nanotechnology in all HER creations for billions of years. She uses simple low-cost materials such as water, proteins, polysaccharides, ceramics, soft composites and stiff composites in building things. Each of HER creations is a masterpiece, a source of wonder and amazement. William Shakespeare, in his “As You Like It ” eulogized Nature’s wisdom saying, “Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones...” and so on.
Sometime in the year 2000, SIR briefly spoke about manufacturing which changed my thinking radically. I have never encountered or read such a jewel of wisdom in any engineering book I have read before. Nanotechnology has been around as a recognized branch of science for only about fifteen years (It is a baby compared to physics, chemistry and biology). Nanotechnology is the study and use of structures between 1 nanometer and 100 nanometers in size. Purely in terms of technology, both in variety and efficiency, “Nature got there first, millions of years before man could invent anything.” Even today, the gap between human technology and Nature’s technology is vast. Nature is the best benchmark for scientists and engineers to improve upon their designs.
Nature is the greatest creator. She has been creating astounding variety of both non-life (Ex: a Diamond) and life-forms (Ex: a Honeybee) on this planet. Each of her creations embodies form, function, beauty and joy. She has been using nanotechnology in all HER creations for billions of years. She uses simple low-cost materials such as water, proteins, polysaccharides, ceramics, soft composites and stiff composites in building things. Each of HER creations is a masterpiece, a source of wonder and amazement. William Shakespeare, in his “As You Like It ” eulogized Nature’s wisdom saying, “Tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, sermons in stones...” and so on.
Sometime in the year 2000, SIR briefly spoke about manufacturing which changed my thinking radically. I have never encountered or read such a jewel of wisdom in any engineering book I have read before. Nanotechnology has been around as a recognized branch of science for only about fifteen years (It is a baby compared to physics, chemistry and biology). Nanotechnology is the study and use of structures between 1 nanometer and 100 nanometers in size. Purely in terms of technology, both in variety and efficiency, “Nature got there first, millions of years before man could invent anything.” Even today, the gap between human technology and Nature’s technology is vast. Nature is the best benchmark for scientists and engineers to improve upon their designs.
Not only Nature creates, but also recycles most efficiently. Man’s creations (products, gadgets, structures etc.) cannot be reused, remanufactured or recycled easily. They pollute the earth, poison the water, and fowl the air making our life more and more difficult. That is the paradox of human progress. Human engineering feats and triumphs are mere child’s play before the super intelligent Mother Nature. Even the best‐in‐the class designs that human engineers have created so far, are at best dim and dull before Nature’s designs. Cognizing this fact, scientists all over the world are seeking Nature’s counsel to create things that are simple, efficient and sustainable.
In this lecture we will see how Nature creates wonderful materials and structures such as (1) Spider silk, (2) Lotus leaf, (3) Gecko’s foot, (4) Peacock feather, (5) Leaf deployable structure, (6) Electric eel, (7) Bio-luminescence, (8) Bambardier Beetle, (9) Namib Desert Beetle, and some other captivating examples. In the process of creating these wonderful structures, Nature employs the principles of self-assembly and hierarchy. Scientists are beginning to understand these principles in their bio-inspired (bio-mimicry, bio-mimetics, Nature-inspired) designs and creations. We will explore these structures in the “3x4 Nature’s Matrix” framework.
In this lecture we will see how Nature creates wonderful materials and structures such as (1) Spider silk, (2) Lotus leaf, (3) Gecko’s foot, (4) Peacock feather, (5) Leaf deployable structure, (6) Electric eel, (7) Bio-luminescence, (8) Bambardier Beetle, (9) Namib Desert Beetle, and some other captivating examples. In the process of creating these wonderful structures, Nature employs the principles of self-assembly and hierarchy. Scientists are beginning to understand these principles in their bio-inspired (bio-mimicry, bio-mimetics, Nature-inspired) designs and creations. We will explore these structures in the “3x4 Nature’s Matrix” framework.
