Meeting Abstract
Biologically inspired design (BID) is a powerful and logical bridge to multidisciplinary education. Biologists, engineers and designers face the problem of identifying design criteria, yet each approaches the problem from a unique perspective. Biologists know about a great variety of organisms and the functions they accomplish to survive and reproduce, with an implicit understanding of design principles employed by living organisms. Engineers are experienced in specifying operational design criteria and analyzing desired functionalities. Designers are expert in identifying human challenges, and assessing and improving the applicability, appeal, and usability of a design. Mixing upper level undergraduates majoring in engineering and design with those majoring in biology, we have devised a BID class at Georgia Tech that provides both increased content knowledge in areas relevant to BID as well as practical training in methods and techniques that facilitate the identification and translation of biological principles into solutions for human challenges. Our goals in designing this course are both to facilitate BID and to provide novel practices that enhance current methods in science, technology, engineering, and math education (STEM). Our learning goals include: (1) novel techniques for creative design; (2) interdisciplinary communication skills; (3) knowledge about domains outside of their core training; (4) a uniquely interdisciplinary collaborative process; and (5) application of existing technical knowledge to a new discipline. To share our teaching experience, we present key problems that we encountered and how we addressed them. We also point out where tough student challenges still exist that are in need of attention from the community.
