Individual Reflections

This week let us listen to some of the voices of our members who went through this project!

You Liang:

For me, the most interesting proposed used of biomimicry was an idea to produce an environmental friendly, biodegradable lubricant after conducting the reverse engineering process. The slime that is produced by a snail plays a major role in its everyday travel. Interestingly it is able to slip the snail from one place to another yet enough to hold the snail onto a surface even upside down. Lubricant is a very important liquid in our daily life. Almost every machine, the engine in our cars, the ceiling fan that we use needs lubricant to reduce friction in between two objects. But unfortunately most of the lubricants that we have are made from crude oil that easily harms the environment.

However, the proposal remains an idea yet to be designed. Further study on lubricants would have to be done before it can be done. Nonetheless, it triggers an unique idea to produce lubricants the way a snail does.

Working as a team no doubt made the project much easier. Every individual contributes an idea and easily we could brainstorm lots out of it. Then the work comes down to filtering, comparing and choosing the best idea to be published. Being inspired by creatures certainly ignites lots of interesting and random ideas never thought before.

Koay Geuk Hwa:

The most interesting proposed used of biomimicry was the building shading inspired by snail shells. This is because of the materials used are recycled and processed wood which are environmentally friendly. The interesting part is that the design provides better ventilation and people can prevent from using air conditioning in order to save energy usage. This sustainable design is surely patentable as it fulfills the engineering challenge nowadays that emphasizes on sustainability. Besides, the special design of making a micro-climate shape is unique enough to be approved as it gives a better illustration and innovation design in engineering and architecture field. The interrelationship between the two fields brings advantages to the world. 

Working as team makes this project easier. When people gather, tasks can be dislocated easily and mannerly to ensure the tasks in the project are done successfully.

Mushi's shell colour is helping it to camouflage! 

Clinton Otten:

Biomimicry is the application of nature by observing and being inspired from everything natural around you. Throughout the semester, we have learned the many applications of biomimicry such as how bees communicate and the power of solar energy conversion in plants. Another example of biomimicry that I found exciting is the application of desert snail’s ability to survive in hot environments and applying that knowledge to create a building with self-cooling abilities. This is a great example of architecture, engineering and biomimicry all together. Finally, as a team we have worked together nicely with everyone to study, and write about our snail raising adventures. I’ve learned that teamwork has made this study blog a great success.

Micro-climate structure inspired by desert snails

Melissa:

The most interesting concept of biomimicry inspired by snails is the roof foam insulation for houses. It’s amazing what these little creatures can do and inspire us to create foam insulation. The foam insulation is inspired by how the snails keep themselves warm using their shells. The shells trap a layer of air cushion and insulate the inside of the snails during cold weather. By engineering this concept in roof technologies, our houses become instantly warmer. This is usually used during colder seasons.

This design is patentable as it focuses on sustainability. When the weather becomes too cold, individuals will usually switch on the heater to keep themselves warm during the winter. However, with this deisgn, the usage of heater can be reduced and the wastage of electricity can be reduced as well.

By working in a team, more interesting ideas can be generated and the workload of the project can be shared equally as well. Apart from that, with each team member having a specific task to complete, this helps the member to focus only on the specific task. This ensures that the outcome of the project being successful since each member is segregated to their own tasks.

Yong Ni:

The most interesting concept of biomimicry inspired from snail is the heat reflective surface of the snail’s shell. It is amazing to know that how this small creature able to survive in humid high temperature areas. From this biomimicry studies, the structure of the snail is being studied and it is found that the shell of the snail has this ability to reflect the heat from the environment. This special ability of heat insulation from snail will be able to inspire us on how we can utilize the structure of the snail’s shell and incorporate it into the design of building for better heat insulation. This design is definitely patentable as well as has great economic potential as it meets the need of the society in searching for a more sustainable way to create buildings that has high heat insulation performance. Throughout this entire blog project, working as a team has definitely ease our workload and increase the performance of the group. More ideas are able to be generated from the brainstorming session and great appreciation to the group leader (You Liang) as well as the team members (Clinton, Melissa, Koay and Navid) who make this blog study a success. 

Navid:

Inspiring from the nature and the living organisms is the main focus of bio mimicry studies, which helps you to look at the nature in a different angle of getting inspired from organisms and different creatures. I really appreciate the fact that I have gotten the chance of being involved in a bio mimicry process by studying and observing a snail. I have learned that although snails might seem like small creatures that are all over the cities, jungles and deserts, they are designed to survive in different situations with their extraordinary capabilities. The most interesting finding for me was the shell of the snail, which is about 3000 times stronger than the mineral that have formed the shell. This illustrates that the strength of a component is not only achieved by the material but the architecture of these molecules is what that makes these shells extremely strong. When a shell is hit, force is deflected away from the site of impact down microscopic pathways of low resistance and taken on what scientists call a “tortuous route.” The energy applied to the nacre is divides into angles and goes through some certain pathways because of the architecture of the nacre and eventually the force is too weak to crack anything. This arrangement can be used in the glass design and be taken further into all the existing materials by introducing micro-architectural features based on natural models, they could change the properties of existing materials.