Details of Grant 

EPSRC Reference:	EP/C522796/1
Title:	Biomimicry at Eden Project
Principal Investigator:	Young, Professor P
Other Investigators:
Researcher Co-Investigators:	Dr EAC Johnson
Project Partners:	Eden Project
Department:	Engineering Computer Science and Maths
Organisation:	University of Exeter
Scheme:	PPE PreFEC
Starts:	01 February 2005	Ends:	31 January 2006	Value (£):	36,451
EPSRC Research Topic Classifications:	Design Engineering
EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications:	No relevance to Underpinning Sectors
Related Grants:
Panel History:
Summary on Grant Application Form
Q: Who invented helicopters, fibre optics and velcro? A: Mother Nature!How? Biomimicry, is how! Biomimicry simply means, pinching our ideas from Mother Nature. Inventors have often sat for days on end in dark, damp studies trying to figure out the solutions to complex problems but quite often, the answers were in front of them all the time. Mother nature is one of the greatest inventors to date. She can make things fly, breathe, float, stick, clean and even spontaneously combust!Ok, so helicopters didn't naturally evolve but the design of the rotating blades is based on the whirling flight and aerodynamics of a sycamore seed. Deep under the sea, a glass sponge has been found to possess fibre optical qualities that are more superior than those of the man-made variety. Velcro was invented by a man walking his dog after discovering that both he and his dog were covered in small burdock seeds that use tiny hooks to cling to fibres.You can see these examples and lots more in the new Education Centre of the Eden Project. Science and engineering are all around us and we can learn a lot from our natural environment. See how modern engineering and computer techniques can create a beetle, 200 times its normal size just to find out what it eats. See how scientists in Egypt have built greenhouses, based on the design of a camels nostril, to collect water. Use interactive computer animations to virtually feed your own plant and see how it reacts to things you feed it.Physical models and 3D computer animations have been created using a 3D photocopier which is a method of generating replicas of a scanned object. The physical models can be made in all sorts of colours, shapes, sizes and out of a range of materials including Ecofriendlie starch. Computer models can be created from the same scan data and simulations can be carried out to see how objects react to their environment. All these types of models can tell us much more about our natural environment.
Key Findings
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Potential use in non-academic contexts
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Impacts
Description This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk Summary Date Materialised
Sectors submitted by the Researcher
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
Project URL:
Further Information:
Organisation Website:	http://www.ex.ac.uk