Abstract
A core concept of biomimetics is the “abstraction” of a biological functionality, meaning the identification of its working principles to be transferred into a technical application. This procedure is based on the analysis of a sequence of models: the “model organism” itself, explanatory and analytic models of the observed “functional concept” and finally prototypes. In many biomimetic texts or projects, it is implicitly assumed that the biological function of the translated working principles is already clarified. Often, however, the identification of biological functions is a difficult task which is not yet accomplished for numerous biological structures. This happens to be the case also for various attractive biomimetic developments. It is therefore possible to derive a technical application from an observed biological phenomenon without knowing its original function. This has consequences for the biomimetic design process as will be discussed in the presentation.
Brief Bio
Anita Roth-Nebelsick received her PhD degree in 2000 in Palaeoiology and Botany from the University of Tübingen. From 2005-2009 she headed the Biomimetics Working Group at the Dept. of Geosciences and since 2009 has been working as the senior Curator for Fossil Plants at the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart. Her research Interests include: Interactions of plants with fluids and their ecophysiological and evolutionary relevance, within this context: functional morphology and palaeoecology, various biomimetic projects (for example fog harvesting and ice formation in plants).