The most ingenious inventions of nature – University of Innsbruck
As part of the continuing education project “Bionics for designers – bio-inspired and nature-analogous processes for sustainable design”, scientists from the University of Innsbruck and the Wattens workshop teach 14 industrial and product designers the theoretical and practical workflow for the development of bio-inspired and nature-analogous products and Procedure.
Man has long been learning from the processes he observes in nature. The polymath Leonardo da Vinci made drawings for machines designed to mimic the flight of birds. This did not succeed because the human being is too weak and his body mass is much too large in relation to his muscular strength. Da Vinci’s drawings of his observations of nature still surprise today. Even if Leonardo did not describe himself as a bionic, he certainly recognized that the key to successful inventions is not copying natural phenomena, but rather a new construction inspired by nature. Accordingly, Thorsten Schwerte, university professor of zoology at the University of Innsbruck and bionics expert, prefers to speak of bio-inspiration or bio-inspired technology in this context. Nature is leading the way, and humans are increasingly gaining the ability to imitate natural things – modified, sometimes recombined and improved – and to convert them into practical applications. Last but not least, this holds new, urgently needed opportunities for the environment.
Mediation of the workflow
The knowledge about the process – the workflow of bionics – is currently still very close to research and is only rarely used in practice. For this reason, the further training project “Bionics for designers – bio-inspired and nature-analogous processes for sustainable design” led by the Research Promotion Agency (FFG) was developed for industrial and product developers from all over Austria. The ambitious program started on May 2, 2022. In the theoretical part of the 40 hours of training, the basics and examples for bio-inspired successes are compiled according to the scheme (1) bionic innovation, (2) technical application, (3) bionic functional principle and ( 4) model from nature are structured. These workshops are supplemented by relevant examples from current scientific research, which makes the future potential of such approaches clear. “We also want to provide impetus for the development of our own ideas,” emphasizes Prof. Thorsten Schwerte from the Institute of Zoology. In the practical part – which is carried out in cooperation with the Center for Rapid Innovation at the Wattens workshop – this process is reversed in order to come up with a problem of our own by researching natural models to come up with a bio-inspired innovation. Concrete questions are developed using the Design Thinking method. The ideas are sketched, digitized and optimized using parametric CAD, and then implemented, tested and modified (proof of concept, circular innovation process) using modern prototyping methods (3D printing, laser cutter, CNC milling machine, etc.) on the basis of two versatile prototypes.
(Lisa Thompson/red)