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(Link to the Original Posting on www.crainscleveland.com)
A natural concept Leaders plant seeds for biomimicry hub, which could place NE Ohio at forefront of environment, industry integration
The next big bioscience might just be biomimicry — the study of how nature`s proven processes can be applied to the challenges of science and industry — and local believers are working to form Cleveland`s own Biomimicry Institute to establish a beachhead in the field.
Led by Cleveland`s Entrepreneurs for Sustainability and the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, 47 proponents met June 4 with biomimicry`s godmother, Janine Benyus, and representatives of the Montana-based Biomimicry Guild and Institute to form an institute here. Their goal not only is to develop a network of local engineers, designers, artists and biologists to support biomimicry initiatives at local companies, but also to cement Cleveland as a leading center for a biomimicry movement they say only will gain momentum.
The meeting drew academicians from the Cleveland Institute of Art, Case Western Reserve University and the University of Akron, as well as industrial designers from faucet maker Moen, American Greetings and GoJo Industries, producer of Purell hand sanitizer and other skin care products. All either are using biomimicry already, or are interested in learning more about a significant new trend affecting how they work. Chris Weigand, an industrial designer at American Greetings, does not use biomimicry in designing displays and racks for his company. However, he`s already taken one workshop on it and thinks it could play a role in future designs. For example, observing how plants and animals in nature grab the attention of other, often symbiotic organisms might provide ideas on how to attract shoppers` attention to products such as greeting cards, Mr. Weigand said.
Like others at the June 4 meeting, Mr. Weigand at least hopes a biomimicry institute here would help him look at industrial design projects in new ways. “Did you know there`s no pigment in a peacock feather?” Mr. Weigand asks, noting that one of the most colorful of all animals has no coloring in its feathers, only prism-like cells that create color differently that most humans would think to do. In the future, humans might provide color to new products using similar techniques, rather than coating or impregnating a product with an actual color pigment. The term “biomimicry” has only been around since 1997, but its proponents note that man long has been successful when he mimics nature — and he`s likely been doing it since prehistoric times, Ms. Benyus said. For example, if primitive man watched and copied the hunting tactics of a pack of wolves, that`s biomimicry at its most primitive level. In today`s world, the uses for biomimicry are more sophisticated. Scientists are studying gecko feet to design adhesive materials that do not need glue and are working on a waterproof glue that emulates substances put out by mollusks. They`re even studying the feet of cheetahs and other animals in hopes of learning how to make shoes that will enable athletes to run faster, said Barry Patterson, the Montana Guild`s staff business catalyst.
The June 4 meeting was an initial planning meeting, and those in attendance had yet to even agree on whether the local Biomimicry Institute should have a physical presence, such as its own building or offices, or would best be run more as a virtual entity made up of an online consortium of cooperating practitioners.
Holly Harlan, founder of Entrepreneurs for Sustainability, said she`d like to see the new organization work both as a conduit for local engineers and designers to share biomimicry ideas and uses, and as an organization that could provide advice and possibly consulting to companies from outside the area. That setup would follow a model of Ms. Benyus` Biomimicry Guild, which provides consulting services to companies from around the world, ranging from Nike to Boeing, Mr. Patterson said. Ms. Benyus didn`t mean to become a consultant, but when her book, “Biomimicry: Innovation Inspired by Nature,” coined the term and essentially invented the concept of biomimicry in 1997, her phone started ringing with big corporations calling and asking how biomimicry might assist them in their design and engineering work.
“It was the biggest surprise in the world to me,” said Ms. Benyus, who still considers herself first and foremost a natural sciences writer, but has become both a consultant and venture capitalist through biomimicry.
Quick initial interest in her work led her in 1998 to form the Biomimicry Institute, in order to further the study of biomimicry, and the Biomimicry Guild to provide professional consulting services.
Paul Alsenas, director of the Cuyahoga County Planning Commission, said he hopes Cleveland can have its own successful biomimicry center that would help foster economic development. The county has not promised any financial support, but has become interested enough to help coordinate efforts to create a center here. “This is major stuff,” Mr. Alsenas said. “Our mission is to help reinvent the local regional economy, and this could be part of that.”
Ms. Benyus said biomimicry is a natural path for businesses to follow, and she believes businesses will take that path more in the future. “They`re looking for something that`s been tested, and this is it,” she said, noting that the processes at work in nature have been refined over thousands of years, allowing man to benefit from more trial-and-error development than he could achieve on his own.
© 2009 Crain Communications Inc.
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