Functional Basis and SE modeling

Comparing the Functional Basis to SE Modeling

Curt McNamara, P.E.

Abstract

Bio-inspired design creates function based translations of both natural and designed systems. A number of design researchers have classified functional flows of substances for use in design. This set is called the functional basis, and we will investigate how this approach corresponds to model based systems engineering.

Bio

Curt McNamara is an educator and designer with over thirty years of experience. He is a scholar of R. Buckminster Fuller, authored the entry on Fuller in the UNESCO Encyclopedia of Life Support Systems, and has taught Bucky's ideas to a range of audiences. He is the co-chair of the INCOSE Natural Systems Working Group.

McNamara received the IEEE Millennium Medal in 2000 for his ongoing work in education, is a Biomimicry Education Fellow, wrote the “Systems” chapters in Sustainable Graphic Design (Wiley) and Packaging Sustainability (Wiley), and the “Teaming For The Future” chapter in Teamwork and Project Management, fourth edition (McGraw-Hill). Curt has also written for Zygote Quarterly on Buckminster Fuller and Systems. His Systems Explorer has been adapted by the Biomimicry Institute for their Biomimicry Toolbox