Systematic Innovation + biomimicry

Systematic Innovation and bio-inspired design.

Systematic innovation toolbox, current trends/research in biologically inspired design, and practical suggestions for implementing BID in industry. Dr Jonathon Weaver (University of Detroit Mercy) and Dr. Jacquelyn Nagel (James Madison University).

Jacquelyn Nagel, PhD. Dr. Jacquelyn K. Nagel is an engineer, academic, and consultant. At James Madison University she is Assistant Department Head and Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering. She earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Oregon State University, and her M.S. and B.S. in Manufacturing Engineering and Electrical Engineering, respectively, from Missouri University of Science & Technology. As a multidiscipline engineer her diverse areas of expertise are bio-inspired design (BID), mechatronic systems, and manufacturing automation. Dr. Nagel is internationally known for her BID process and pedagogy research and has given invited talks/webinars/lectures to SWE, INCOSE, NASA, and at universities in Canada, France, and USA. As a consultant, she leads practicing engineers and organizations through the process of taking inspiration from nature to solve problems.

Jonathan Weaver, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at the University of Detroit Mercy, teaches a variety of courses – many of them focusing on innovation, creativity, and the product development process. He holds a BS degree from Virginia Tech, and MS and Ph.D. degrees from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Industrial and research experience prior to joining the University in 1993 included developing numerous analytical models of Naval shipboard systems and power plant systems as well as developing path planning algorithms for robotic assembly of space trusses. His research interests and publications relate to robotics, vehicle dynamics, design of experiments, robust design, engineering education, innovation, entrepreneurship, systems engineering, new product development and the product development process. Individually and through his work with Innovation in Action, he has also conducted a number of innovation workshops for industry wherein the participants learn systematic innovation tools and apply them to their daily work.

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Tiny tools for natural systems design.

The Natural Systems Working Group has been exploring tools for bio-inspired design in conjunction with the NASA Virtual Interchange for Nature Inspired Exploration. One result of that work has been a decomposition of engineering tasks into 'morphemes' of work. Join us to explore how these might be mapped to ideas from natural systems. 'How does nature do that?' applied to daily tasks. Curt McNamara. P.E.

Curt McNamara P.E. is an educator who practiced design and systems engineering for over 20 years. He studies R. Buckminster Fuller and has written articles on his ideas for Zygote Quarterly and systems journals. Curt coordinates an informal education network on innovation and received the IEEE Millennium Medal for this work. He is a Biomimicry Education Fellow and co-chair of the Natural Systems Working Group of INCOSE. His writings include book chapters on Systems and Teaming For the Future.