How Biomimicry Can Advance Business Innovation and Sustainability
Michigan Sustainable Business Forum and the Biomimicry Institute are hosting a webinar that will introduce sustainability and sustainable business stakeholders in the Great Lakes to emerging opportunities in sustainable design and product development created through the adoption of biomimicry.
Featured speakers are Michael Haro, Environmental Program Leader for the Advanced Development Programs organization at Lockheed Martin Aeronautics Company, and Jared Yarnall-Schane, Entrepreneurship Director for the Biomimicry Institute.
A type of “bio-inspired” design, biomimicry is a practice that learns from and mimics the strategies found in nature to solve human design challenges — and find hope along the way. It has proven and potential applications in architecture, construction, renewable energy, fashion, agriculture, material chemistry, sanitation, transportation, and waste management and reduction, as well as other entrepreneurial uses yet to be discovered.
The Biomimicry Institute curates solutions and ideas for business and community applications, including an annual start-up competition, the Ray of Hope Prize. This webinar will feature an introduction to the concept and highlight examples of its use and potential. It will include a case study from Lockheed Corp.
Engineers at Lockheed recognized that nature’s functions could provide a non-conventional approach for engineering solutions, especially for problems created by material supply and performance limitations. Michael Haro led a three-year project to integrate bioinspired design into the company’s Skunk Works technology and product development process. Integrating biomimicry into the product and technology development process proved an effective means of sparking innovation that also instilled a culture of sustainable product design for engineers.
Michigan Sustainable Business Forum is sponsored by Schupan.