NASA VINE: Unsworth

NASA Virtual Interchange for Nature Inspired Exploration:

Colleen Unsworth

Abstract:

This talk will briefly overview NASA's Virtual Interchange for Nature-Inspired Exploration (VINE) and the recent Biocene (BID) Tools Workshop that took place at NASA Glenn in Cleveland, Ohio in September, 2019. This two day, invitation-only workshop gathered ~50 BID tool developers, designers, academics, systems engineers, and industry professionals from around the globe to discuss current BID practice, tool integration, and long- and short-term next steps. Colleen will share the updated list of active VINE clusters, and opportunities to get involved in the upcoming Biocene 2020 event.

Bio:

Colleen Unsworth is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biology, University of Akron. Colleen does research in Biomechanics and Biomimicry and is a Biomimicry Fellow sponsored by NASA Glenn Research Center and the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Her dissertation work focuses on incorporating inclusive design into BID practice. In the lab, she studies how animals navigate unstructured terrain and how these principles can be applied to all-terrain mobility aid design. She promotes these ideas through her startup, Natraverse, LLC at outreach events and local pitch competitions. Her most recent publications include ‘Envisioning Biomimicry Through an Ontological Lens’ (Unsworth et al.¸ 2019), ‘PeTaL (Periodic Table of Life) and Physiomimetics’ (Shyam et al., 2019) and ‘E2BMO: Facilitating User Interaction with a BioMimetic Ontology via Semantic Translation and Interface Designs’ (McInerney et al., 2018).