The purpose of the conference is to arouse curiosity and awareness of the field of biomimicry (imitation of nature) as an engine of innovation in order to promote biomimetic research and development in Israel
By: Dr. Yael Halfman Cohen
The "Biomimicry-Academia and Industry" conference was founded on the initiative of the Israeli Biomimicry Organization, the Chamber of Engineers and in collaboration with the Biomimicry Laboratory at the Porter School of Environmental Studies, Tel Aviv University, with the aim of promoting curiosity, dialogue and research and applied collaborations between biologists and engineers. The conference is a platform for revealing fascinating biological mechanisms with applied engineering potential, alongside biomimetic research and developments that already combine biological-engineering knowledge, and are in various research stages or have already been launched as biomimetic products on the market. The purpose of the conference is to arouse curiosity and awareness of the field of biomimicry (imitation of nature) as an engine of innovation in order to promote biomimetic research and development in Israel.
The first session of the conference will deal with smart materials and biomimetic chemistry, the conference will be opened by Prof. Oded Shusiov's lecture, Nature's gift, nano biomimetics and the materials of the future, which will deal with materials with extraordinary mechanical properties, which combine the stiffness of cellulose nano fibers from the plant world, with the flexibility and resilience of Resilin (a protein that creates elastic structures, which allows, for example, bed bugs to jump to a height 100 times higher than their height!) and more. Prof. Boaz Mizrahi from the Biomaterials Laboratory at the Technion, will lecture on imitating principles from nature in the development of synthetic materials and expand on reactive polymers, and Prof. Galia Ma'in, head of the Biomimetic Chemistry Laboratory at the Technion, will lecture on applications in the field of chemistry in the context of metal binding.
The second session of the conference will deal with biomimicry in industry. The session will be opened by a guest lecture by attorney Mark Cohen on aspects of intellectual property in biomimetic innovation. The Omnix Medical company will present an innovative biomimetic approach to fight bacteria, and Dr. Ezra Orlavsky will present developments on biomimetic desalination. The Seevix company will present the successes in the field of fiber production that are identical in properties to the spider cold fiber. Seevix can produce spider web fibers for the first time in the world at high frequency and in commercial quantities!
The last session will deal with research and methodological aspects of the field of biomimicry, in which we will host researchers and developers, from Israel and the world, who will present insights, case studies, and tools for biomimetic planning and design thinking.
This year we will also host at the conference the architect Monica Cohen, founder and CEO of Biomimicry Argentina, who will present the field of biomimicry as a holistic design worldview, following a book she wrote. Alongside the conference, there will be a poster exhibition of students who graduated from biomimicry programs in Israel (outstanding works of biomimetic inventions), and an art and design exhibition inspired by nature. The conference will be graced by the musician Naboya Yamagotsi, with music inspired by nature with musical instruments of his own making.
For details and registration
