New Delhi: IIT-Madras has launched a full semester course on Biomimicry — to imitate or look at nature as a source of inspiration for solving complex problems.
Dean of Students, Professor MS Sivakumar, Chief Innovation Officer of Gopalakrishnan Deshpande Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Shiva Subramaniam, Applied Mechanics professor, Satyanarayanan Seshadri and Biotechnology professor, Srinivasa Chakravarthy will teach the programme.
Candidates interested in more information about the programme can email at shiva@thinkpaperclip.com or can dial 91766 12393, IIT Madras said.
“Biomimicry has immense potential not only in engineering, technology and design, but also in other areas like management, human resources, administration, social sciences and the arts. School children can benefit from learning biomimicry. Biomimicry can lead to not just innovating from nature but also creating a sustainable way of life,” an official statement from IIT Madras said.
The prestigious institute has also built a community of biomimicry enthusiasts.
“The Institute plans to hold a biomimicry challenge to provoke bold, sustainable ideas from young minds. The UN Sustainable Development Goals can provide students with challenges for which they can design solutions using biomimicry,” the statement added.
According to IIT Madras, Biomimicry is the intersection of biology and engineering. “You do not have to be either a biologist or an engineer to learn biomimicry, all you need is curiosity,” the official statement said.
“Biomimicry is not learning about nature but learning from it. The ethos of biomimicry or the guiding principle of biomimicry is that life creates conditions conducive to life,” added the statement.