Project Profile
Biological and Bio-inspired Motion Systems Operating in Complex Environments
University of California at Berkeley
Abstract
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program will train biology and engineering students to learn from natural design – a process termed biological inspiration. In particular, trainees will discover principles that underlie how organisms move in complex environments, and learn to use those principles as inspiration to design… more »
This Integrative Graduate Education and Research Traineeship (IGERT) program will train biology and engineering students to learn from natural design – a process termed biological inspiration. In particular, trainees will discover principles that underlie how organisms move in complex environments, and learn to use those principles as inspiration to design human-engineered systems.
Four focus areas for research opportunities include the mechanics of systems that locomote, their control mechanisms, the structure and function of their materials, and their evolution. A three-stage training program integrates with the research focus and is facilitated by a new Berkeley center – CiBER – the Center for interdisciplinary Biological-inspiration in Education and Research. Stage 1offers a customized core curriculum to develop a common scientific language, and to discover opportunities to contribute to and benefit from bio- and bio-inspired motion systems. Trainees will participate in a new research-based teaching laboratory where teams of biology and engineering students work together to make original biomechanical discoveries. This experience transitions them into Stage 2 where they begin research rotations and international experiences at leading European institutes guided by a Bionics" network. « less
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