Achievement

Our IGERT Program accomplished a first with respect to trainees participating in the interdisciplinary exchange of research in biology and engineering. Three IGERT Trainee engineers, Co-PI Ron Fearing and three other students delivered presentations in the first all engineering Session on Robotics, Mathematical and Physical Models at the Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology Meeting. Each student worked closely with IGERT PI biologist Robert Full to design their talk. Trainees learned that they need not attempt to be biologists, but instead explain how their novel robot designs serve as physical models to test hypotheses on animals. In return, engineers articulated particular challenges in their robotic designs that could benefit from biological inspiration provided by the vast array of biologists present at the meeting. Biologists attending the meeting found the session to be one that could serve as an exemplar for the future of interdisciplinary integration beyond biology.