Spatial Engineering and Aesthetics

Biomimicry, Aerospace, Design

Just over a week ago I met Andrew Dent, from Material Connexion, a materials consultancy and library based out of New York, Cologne, Milan and Bangkok, and he brought up the topic of biomimicry in a podcast I recorded with him. He suggested this is going to be a big field in the future of materials research and development.

I also just yesterday came across a release from the University of Michigan which discusses the similarities and barriers between organic flight and the aerospace industry and suggests we need to look at animals and insects of flight in order to better understand where we can make changes to our existing mechanical flight systems.

I like this idea but it seems a little obvious to me. What has been preventing us from doing this already? Is there any reason we have lost sight of our primary influence? How do we harness the design of nature in order to harness the energy of nature and when do we move on from a design that has reached the limits of its function?

I personally think biomimicry is nothing new, but maybe it is just a new age where we now have the resources and “advanced technology” to better examine and understand nature and biological systems in order to build new machines based on nature’s designs.

Greener Gadgets Video Interviews

While at the Greener Gadgets conference just over a week ago, I had the opportunity to talk with a number of experts, analysts and professionals involved with and interested in the greening of the consumer electronics industry.

Here are a few of the conversations I had:

Mary Lou Jepsen from Pixel Qi and the OLPC

Arthur Huang from HYmini

Reagan Warner-Rowe from M2E Power

The Lego Brick Turns 50

Incase you haven’t been to the Google homepage today, or Digg or Slashdot, I want you to know today marks the 50^th anniversary of the Lego brick.

I find this significant because in my speculative mind, Lego has crafted many of the world’s engineers from an early age through the use of its toys, especially with the more recent introduction of the Lego Mindstorm. I’m guessing you too probably played with Lego as a kid (or maybe you still do as an adult).

The company started in Denmark, back in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christansen as a wooden toy company. Shortly after its inception, about 15 years, Christansen purchased the country’s first injection molding machine and started producing Lego bricks; the rest is history.

To see the entire story from Lego along with some more history and fun facts, check out the 50^th birthday of the Lego Brick release.