INCOSE NSWG Community of Practice Webinar
Friday, May 15, 2015 12:00 – 1:00 p.m. CDT
Systematic Design of
Biologically Inspired Engineering Solutions
Dr. Jacquelyn K.S. Nagel,
Department of Engineering, James Madison University
Abstract
Biological organisms, phenomena, and strategies provide insight into sustainable and adaptable design— which can be used to inspire engineering innovation. Although the biologically-inspired solutions are innovative and useful, the majority of inspiration taken from nature has happened by chance observation, or through dedicated study of a specific biological entity (e.g., gecko). This reveals a fundamental problem of working across domains. The effort and time required to become a competent engineering designer creates significant obstacles to becoming sufficiently knowledgeable about biological systems (the converse can also be said). This research aims to remove the element of chance, reduce the amount of time and effort required to developing biologically-inspired engineering solutions. We seek to bridge the seemingly immense disconnect between the engineering and biological domains—through the development of systematic design tools and techniques. Using functional representation and abstraction to describe biological systems presents the natural designs in an engineering context. Thus, the biological information is accessible to engineering designers with varying biological knowledge, but a common understanding of engineering design methodologies.
Bio
Dr. Jacquelyn K. Nagel is an Assistant Professor of Engineering at James Madison University. She has seven years of diversified engineering design experience, both in academia and industry. She has experienced engineering design in a range of contexts, including: bio-inspired design, electrical and control system design, manufacturing system design and design for the factory floor.
In 2012, she was recognized by the National eWeek Foundation and IEEE-USA as one of the New Faces of Engineering for her pioneering work in using biological systems as models for sensors, instrumentation, and processes. Over the last four years she has been teaching biomimicry in the context of engineering design. Her research focuses on pedagogy and applications of bioinspired, engineering design, as well as the development of methods and tools that facilitate the process.
She earned her Ph.D. from Oregon State University, and her M.S. and B.S. from Missouri University of Science & Technology.
INCOSE Natural Systems Working Group (NSWG)
https://sites.google.com/site/incosenswg
Chair: Curt McNamara — Co-chair: George Studor
nswg-info@incose.org
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