Biomimetism

Duration

15h Th, 45h Proj.

Number of credits

Lecturer

Philippe Compère, Liesbet Geris, Tristan Gilet, Eric Parmentier, Davide Ruffoni

Coordinator

N...

Language(s) of instruction

English language

Organisation and examination

All year long, with partial in January

Units courses prerequisite and corequisite

Prerequisite or corequisite units are presented within each program

Learning unit contents

"Those who are inspired by a model other than Nature, a mistress above all masters, are laboring in vain."
Leonardo Da Vinci
In three billion years of evolution, nature had time to invent an incredible variety of mechanisms serving the purposes of life. These mechanisms are especially robust, since the conditions in which they are used are often highly variable. Nature comes with its own technical choices and fabrication recipes that are sometimes strikingly different from our conventional engineering: soft materials, microstructures, differential growth of tissues, self-healing capabilities, etc. In this course, biologists and engineers will unite forces and together carefully observe, deeply understand and attempt to faithfully mimic the designs of Nature. Course content: In the first part of the course, several existing examples of biomimetism will be introduced by the lecturers and discussed by the group. The second part will be dedicated to the course projects (presentation and discussion).

Learning outcomes of the learning unit

At the end of this course, students will have an overview of many successful examples of biomimetism. Moreover, they will be able to get inspiration from Nature's designs and transpose them to develop original engineering applications. Thanks to the group dynamics, they will benefit from the background of other students. They will also improve their communication skills (especially in an interdisciplinary context) and creative potential. Finally, they will be able to carry on a project from the preliminary studies to the final design.

Prerequisite knowledge and skills

Pre-requisites: Bachelor in Sciences or Engineering

Planned learning activities and teaching methods

The course is organized according to the 15+45 scheme (15h theory + 45h project). Theory and applications are covered in 8-10 lectures (about 1h30 each). There will be some invited lectures. In the course project, the students will investigate a curiosity of the natural world from both biology and engineering points of view. They will then propose and possibly develop a biomimetic application of this natural phenomenon. A list of topics will be proposed at the beginning of the course. Projects will be made by groups of 2 to 5 students. Whenever possible, there will be at least one engineer and one biologist in each group.

Mode of delivery (face-to-face ; distance-learning)

Face-to-face

Recommended or required readings

The course is not based on a unique textbook. It is more a synthesis of many textbooks and recent publications. At the end of each class, several reading suggestions will be given.

Assessment methods and criteria

Only the project is subject to evaluation. This latter is based on a final presentation and a written report. The criteria and exact date of the evaluation will be communicated to the students in due time.

Work placement(s)

Organizational remarks

The schedule and location of the class will be fixed, after having considered the availabilities of both students and professors. The first class will be given in early october. An electronic version of the course notes and slides will be available on Dropbox.

Contacts

Eric Parmentier (B6c - E.Parmentier@ulg.ac.be )
Philippe Compère (B6c - pcompere@ulg.ac.be )
Liesbet Geris (B52 - Liesbet.Geris@ulg.ac.be )
Davide Ruffoni (B52 - druffoni@ulg.ac.be )
Tristan Gilet (B52 - Tristan.Gilet@ulg.ac.be )