What Has Fins Like A Whale, Skin Like A Lizard, And Eyes Like A Moth? The Future Of Engineering

Four Universities collaborated on a biomimicry (a relatively new science that studies nature, its models, systems, processes and elements and then imitates or takes creative inspiration from them to solve human problems sustainably 2 ) design project. The universities provided students from freshman to PhD level with backgrounds in engineering, biology, industrial design and art. The students ran the project with support from professors, a non-for-profit institute, and a business client. This paper will describe biomimicry as it is being taught in a first year engineering design and communication course, how four of the participating universities experienced this project and approach biomimicry, how the universities communicated and integrated their design ideas and process, and how the project ultimately resulted in a design prototype for the participating company.