Duration
15h Th, 45h Proj.
Number of credits
Lecturer
Philippe Compère, Liesbet Geris, Tristan Gilet, Davide Ruffoni
Coordinator
Language(s) of instruction
English language
Organisation and examination
All year long, with partial in January
Schedule
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. In the first part of the course, several existing examples of biomimetism will be introduced by the lecturers. Various techniques to work at the interface between biology, engineering and physics will also be described. The second part will be dedicated to the course projects.
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.
More specifically, the students will be able to
- obtain relevant information on a biological structure, and understand its functions and constraints (both physical and biological);
- design and study a physical model (experimental or numerical) that replicates the working principle of a biological structure; and
- report results of this study in a scientific format.
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 about 8 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 first characterize the biological structure as well as its function and constraints (information from the scientific literature and/or personal observations). They will then design a physical model (experimental or numerical) aimed at reproducing a selected biological feature. They will investigate this model and report their results in a scientific format. A list of topics will be proposed at the beginning of the year. Projects will be made in 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. An intermediate presentation (not graded) will be organized at, mid-term.
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
Philippe Compère (B6c - pcompere@uliege.be )
Liesbet Geris (B52 - Liesbet.Geris@uliege.be )
Davide Ruffoni (B52 - druffoni@uliege.be )
Tristan Gilet (B52 - Tristan.Gilet@uliege.be )
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the May-June 2020 session
Teaching methods implemented : distance-learning
Not applicable
Assessment subjects
Not modified.
Assessment methods
Not modified, except that the presentation will be online.
Contacts
Adaptation of teaching commitments following the COVID-19 pandemic for the Aug-Sept 2020 session
Assessment subjects
Not modified.
Assessment methods
Not modified.