A quick reminder that the application for the 2011 Biomimicry Professional Certification Program is due July 15^th ~ Apply online!

The Biomimicry Professional Certification Program not only provides the most comprehensive biomimicry education currently available, it also affords an intellectually stimulating learning environment that allows for unique leadership and networking opportunities.

Now in its second year, the two-year program will accept just 16 participants. The Biomimicry Institute seeks a dynamic group of four biologists, four engineers, four designers, and four businesspeople from around the world for the 2011-2013 cohort to embark on an incredible academic journey together.

Past graduates are teaching biomimicry workshops around the world, speaking at international conferences, and consulting with Fortune 500 clients on some of their most intriguing sustainability and design innovation challenges.

If you have any questions on the process that cannot be answered by our online FAQs, please email bpcp@biomimicryinstitute.org

Thank you for your interest; we look forward to reading your application!

Warmly,

Dr. Dayna Baumeister, Keystone

A while back I wrote about making more use out of less stuff. Here is an example of a startup gaining some traction:

ThredUP aims to bring affordability and convenience to the children’s clothing market, which is estimated to be valued as a $1 billion space. The platform allows parents to exchange boxes of outgrown kids clothing and shoes for new items that fit. Continued at TechCrunch…

A question often asked: “Can you apply biomimicry in the field of organizational development?” IDEO and USGBC recently took part in FastCompany’s What Would You Ask Nature? challenge, with inspiring results:

With 80 local chapters nationwide, they struggle with challenges like making group decisions and the ability to keep members motivated and involved. But the USGBC wanted to investigate redesigning their organization in a way that was more closely aligned with their mission to protect and celebrate nature. In their words, they wanted to be more “resilient and organic” in how their organization communicates with stakeholders.

Continued at FastCompany…

Janine Benyus speaks about collaboration in nature at this week’s Google Atmosphere Conference - an invitational conference for CTOs.

Nature’s Collaboration System

If climate goes the way most scientists predict, then “resilience” is a word we’ll read ever more often. Last weekend I attended  “Design 4 Resilience” and here is an example of what emerged:

Chris Byrne, a participant at D4R last Saturday, has catalyzed D4R’s first informal workgroup to discover a resilience pattern language. Chris’ curiosity, dialog skills, and insightful contributions to discussion inspired Peter+Trudy Johnson-Lenz, who blog at People & Place, to share their index of design philosophies for Chris to work with. They graciously agreed to share their index with Shareable. Thank you PTJL. See any patterns in these philosophies? Please share your observation in comments. http://shareable.net/blog/towards-a-resilience-pattern-language

My iPad arrived on Saturday and it is one cool device! While there are question marks over Apple’s closed ecosystem, there’s no doubt about consumer interest. Like the Apple II, the Mac, iPod and iPhone before it, the launch of the iPad will be the tipping point for widespread adoption of nascent technology - in this case a large screen, touch control device in the home. As the following points out the outcome may impact home energy efficiency.

…the iPad could offer a few unique characteristics specifically for home energy management in comparison to an energy-specific dashboard gadget — like those made by Tendril, EnergyHub and Control4 (yep they make a gadget too) — mobile interfaces with smaller screens like the iPhone, or a website on a computer. Those advantages include a large screen, the ability for rich media and the fact that the device can do an unlimited amount of other tasks.

Continued at http://earth2tech.com/2010/04/06/how-the-ipad-could-disrupt-the-home-energy-market/

Fast Company blogger Jody Turner offers some insights from a recent talk:

I was attending Janine Benyus’ talk, Biomimicry in the Built World: Consulting Nature as Model, Measure, and Mentor, sponsored by the College of Environmental Design at UC Berkeley. As the founder of an early-stage electronics startup and with a background in economics, I was skeptical of the relevance to my own interests, aside from my boyish curiosity of cool animals which had brought me in the door. But as the presentation began and the screen behind her lit up with brilliant panoramas of diverse ecosystems, then zoomed down to wildly imaginative macros of plants, animals, and fungi custom-built for survival, synapses fired and a storm cloud of ideas gathered strength. Nature, it seems, is an expert in efficient systems. By observing these systems and the problems they solve we can tap into millions of years of evolutional R&D.

Continued at http://www.fastcompany.com/1583698/biomimicry-design-the-answer-may-be-zebra.

Adding to a growing number awards she has received over the past few years, Janine Benyus is included in a list of “Most Influential Designers” put together by BusinessWeek:

Not only is “influential” difficult to measure, but “design” is also nigh on impossible to define neatly. Nonetheless, we decided to put together a list of some of the design world’s most influential movers and shakers. From design thinkers to hands-on design doers in industries from graphics to industrial to auto design, our chosen 27 luminaries represent a diverse cross-section of design disciplines. But all those selected have one thing in common: They are in some way responsible for shaping the world around us.

Continued at BusinessWeek

Airbus joins the “inspired by nature” meme:

Andrea Debbane, Vice President Public Affairs and Communications at Airbus, said, “Aviation is already putting a huge effort into reducing the 2% it contributes to manmade emissions … Biodiversity is also vital for the future of aviation and economic development. The natural world has been, and continues to be, a source of inspiration to engineers in creating eco-efficient aircraft. Biologically inspired engineering or ‘biomimicry’ is the future, and we need to ensure this is preserved.“ Continued at: http://www.ftnnews.com/content/view/8420/27/

Some great news from the Biomimicry Institute:

Arizona State University has become the newest member of the Biomimicry Affiliate Program of the Montana-based Biomimicry Institute. ASU is the only U.S. institution to be awarded affiliate status and joins Iberoamericana University, Mexico City, and the Ontario College of Art & Design, Toronto.

The agreement between ASU and the Biomimicry Institute will foster greater cooperation in a variety of areas. They include developing biomimicry-based courses and other educational opportunities, pursuing joint grant opportunities and stimulating the development of biomimicry-based technologies and ventures at ASU.

Biomimicry is an emerging discipline that explores the materials, processes and functions of nature for clues to solving human problems. The approach is being used by companies around the world as a strategy to guide the sustainable design of a wide range of products, from energy efficient buildings and self-cleaning paints to brighter electronic displays and power-sipping impellers and fans.

ASU has become a leader in biomimicry. Examples include:

• InnovationSpace – a joint venture established by ASU’s Herberger Institute for Design and the Arts, W.P. Carey School of Business and the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering – is pioneering biomimicry in its core curriculum as a fundamental strategy for creating sustainable product concepts.

• Center for Bio-Inspired Solar Fuel Production – backed by a $14 million grant from the Department of Energy, the center focuses on unlocking the secrets of energy conversion in photosynthetic organisms and will use these natural processes as a model for creating an artificial system of solar-powered fuel production.

• ASU’s School of Life Sciences will host a conference on “Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design,” Feb. 18-20.

The international conference will convene biologists, computer scientists, artists, designers, architects and engineers who will explore how the collective behavior and nest architecture of social insects can inspire more efficient and sustainable solutions to human challenges in areas such as manufacturing, communications, transportation and green building.

“Arizona State University faculty are exploring a wide range of possible applications for biomimicry,” said ASU President Michael Crow.

“We have active research in biomimicry that could affect such fields as renewable energy, new materials and bioengineering. We also are working to integrate biomimicry into our curriculum offerings to our students, with the goal of educating future generations of students in this important technological field.”