BIOMIMETICS

Biomimetics Background

         

 

We have no way of knowing who the first person was to design something based on the natural world, but the term ‘biomimetics’ was first used in 1948 by a Swiss engineer named George de Mestral. De Mestral noticed how the tiny seeds of alpine plants kept sticking to his dog’s fur. When he looked at them under a microscope he found that all of the seeds were tipped with hundreds of tiny hooks. He called this a hook and loop construction and designed velcro based on this discovery. The hook and loop construction allows velcro to grip instantly, but let go with one tug.

 

Biomimetics can be used to solve problems in engineering, material science, medicine, and other fields. The basis of biomimetics is research, finding something in nature that could be a model to improve a human design. The whole purpose of biomimetics is to create new products and modify traditional technologies. One researcher in the field of biomimetics is Andrew Parker, an English academic who is a major force in the world of biomimetics. Parker has helped to create many products such as: using the anti-reflective coating in moth eyes, butterflies, and beetles to create brighter cell phone screens; working with cosmetic companies to mimic the natural sheen of diatoms (a type of algae); and replicating the microscopic ridges and grooves found in amber for use in solar panels to reduce light reflection.

 

Biomimetics is a continuously growing field with engineers all over the world working on different studies. Andrew Parker is studying how lizards can suck water out of the ground with their feet and then drink it. He is working on inventing a product that has a similar effect that humans could use. A product like this would be very helpful for current and predicted upcoming droughts.

 

Like anything, the field of biomimetics has challenges. Just the fact that biomimetics is a combination of engineering, biology, physics, and other fields is a challenge in and of itself. Trying to mesh people and ideas from different disciplines creates exciting opportunities as well as challenges. In any field that requires research and innovation, funding is always difficult. Biomimetics is a relatively new field, which makes funding especially hard because it requires people to invest in projects with unknown outcomes and a short history of successful products.