All Blog Posts (28)

I wonder if supply chain designers can learn something from nature.  I suspect nature doesn't put all of her eggs in one basket so to speak, like companies rely on just 1-2 suppliers.  Worth reflecting on and comparing the similarities and contrasts with how nature operates; especially in times of emergency.

By Don Lee and David Pierson, Los Angeles Times April 6, 2011

Reporting from Shirakawa, Japan; and Beijing— About 40 miles west of the crippled Fukushima…

LFI2011DesignSymposium.pdf

Lightfair International 2011

I found this interesting when looking through a typical retail design symposium list of topics, they have a seminar / presentation on Biomimicry.  I don't think I've ever seen anything on Biomimicry in such a mainstream retail industry…

ScienceDaily (Feb. 21, 2011) — The Mimosa plant, which folds its leaves when they're touched, is inspiring a new class of adaptive structures designed to twist, bend, stiffen and even heal themselves. University of Michigan researchers are leading their development.

Mechanical engineering professor Kon-Well Wang presented the team's latest work Feb. 19 at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's 2011 Annual Meeting in Washington D.C.…

Members of Students for Sustainable Stanford model repurposed and vintage clothing in a recent New York Times design feature that looks at the trend of sustainable fashion on college campuses. Also featured in the slideshow are students from the University of Portland (OR), Cornell University (NY) and Sarah Lawrence College (NY), where a student designed a winter coat designed to be planted in the spring. Produced for a biomimicry project in an environmental studies class, seeds…

What are the elements on which life relies?

The breath of spirit. Sunlight. Air. Water. Earth. Just like fresh water, good arable soil is a limited resource with an astounding, almost unbelievable capacity for the ability to recycle, regenerate, renew...

The thin skin of soil on the earth that supports us, for too long has been treated as inert - as a mere commodity. This thin layer of highly productive life, from the micro to macroscopic, has the ability to break down that…

Cutting Edge Bio-Inspired Materials Research by Christoph Weder and Stuart Rowan



By Marianne Eppig on assignment for E4S



When you look at a sea cucumber—an ocean floor-dwelling animal that looks like a giant slug—medical solutions might not be the first item that pops into your mind.

(Sea Cucumber. Photo courtesy of WikiMedia)

A sea cucumber’s skin is soft…

By Marianne Eppig on assignment for E4S



The familiar smell of pizza greets you as you walk through the double doors, and the bartender smiles while pulling down on the tap handle in front of a full bar audience. The brick walls look as though they’ve been holding up this building for quite a while. The host seats you in the renovated Beer Garden, where a canvas roof and…

“Morphotex” Dress Mimics Butterfly Wing Shimmer—Without Any Dyes…