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.”

Tom McKeag teaches bio-inspired design at the California College of the Arts and UC Berkeley and closely tracks the burgeoning biomimicry industry. Here are his “Tommy” awards for the best and brightest biomimetic products/concepts from 2009:

It’s time to review last year’s bio-inspired products and services and pick my favorites, and, since this is my “sandbox,” I have decided to shamelessly name my awards the Tommies. …The impact of the linking of brilliant, logical theorizing with careful biological research and tenacious engineering development cannot be overstated…

Continued at http://greenerdesign.com/blog/2010/01/13/year-biomimicry-fins-humans-aquapenguin-and-robots-whiskers.

In  2005 I provided the seed grant that gave rise to The Biomimicry Institute. Since then a dedicated team has developed the tools that students, professionals and educators need to join the burgeoning biomimicry movement. Please join me in closing out the decade by reviewing our successes to date and ambitious plans for the future: http://www.biomimicryinstitute.org/images/Biomimicry_Institute_Report.pdf

With CES, the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, just around the corner I thought this introduction to a biomimetic screen technology from Qualcomm/Mirosol was timely.

Qualcomm’s mirasol display technology is based on a reflective technology called IMOD (Interferometric MODulation), with MEMS structures at its core. This MEMS–based innovation is both bistable, meaning it is both extremely low power, and highly reflective, meaning the display itself can be seen even in direct sunlight.

By studying and mimicking nature’s processes and structures – a field of study called biomimetics – Qualcomm engineers have developed the nature-inspired mirasol display.

Check out this short introductory video.

I’m just back from Green Festival buzzing with new ideas, renewed energy and a few new connections to followup.

See if you can find the common thread on just three of the exhibitors: http://sharingsolution.com http://rentalic.com http://cohousing.org. Yes, back to my earlier post about getting more from less. I believe this is a powerful meme that needs to be spread far and wide. Today the brightest brains and deepest pockets are almost exclusively focused on creating MORE stuff. I’d argue that in many ways (though of course not all) we already have enough stuff, and intstead we need focused attention on making much better use of what we have already extracted, processed, packaged and put into use.

Technology: the web, and more particularly smartphones are central enablers. Hmm…I have a bit experience in those fields that could be put to use!

And a second thread: if we’re going to create more stuff then lets make sure folks have read Cradle to Cradle and taken a course in Biomimicry!

You’ll find my updated work-in-progress presentation at http://www.scribd.com/doc/21277439/Making-More-Use-out-of-Less-Stuff. Feedback and more examples welcome!

Long-time Australian friend Tony Smith copied me a link to a recent MIT Technology Review article that offers some some stunning nano-scale images like the one above. Clearly we have the power to remake the way we make things - here’s hoping we do so with good intentions and mindful of the Precautionary Principle.

The article also spurred a discussion over at Slashdot…

I  generally focus on solutions rather than preaching to the choir about the issues, but sometimes a report like this is a wakeup call for me and everyone who believes there is a good chance that human influence climate change (chaos!) is underway.

“Number of Americans who believe in climate change drops, survey shows only 57% of Americans feel that the planet’s atmosphere is warming, a fall from 77% two years ago”

Continued:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2009/oct/22/climate-change-us-pew-survey

http://people-press.org/report/556/global-warming

I just spent the last three days at the annual Bioneers Conference. The closing speaker was Ann Leonard - creator of The Story of Stuff. Her talk inspired me to put together a few thoughts and a ‘presentation’.

The fastest path to sustainability, to meeting the goals of Kyoto, 350.org, etc is to make exponentially more use out of the world’s limited resources. Buying more personal stuff - however ‘green’ - isn’t going to get us there. Instead we need to tap technology (and common sense) to radically increase the use of the products and resources we have today. Here are a few examples…