Services

BRIC and Great Lakes Biomimicry co-deliver the following services:

Professional Education for aspiring biomimicry practitioners, ranging from lunch-hour presentations to half-day and two-day training programs. Sessions introduce the concept of biomimicry and industry-specific examples, emphasize the quantitative and qualitative value of implementation, provide training in how to apply biomimicry, and outline options for building capacity.

Innovation Services, where the client identifies a product, process or system design challenge, and we provide front-end biomimicry consulting. We collaborate with the client to define scope, catalog functions, identify biological models, extract design principles and generate/refine solution concepts. Contracts typically run six months, depending on the desired outcome.

Biomimicry Fellow Sponsorship Opportunities, where UA doctoral students each dedicate up to 20 hours per week to advancing biomimicry initiatives within their sponsoring organizations. Intellectual property originated, conceived or made as part of the Biomimicry Fellows’ activities with the sponsors is owned by the sponsors. Fellows and sponsors become members of Great Lakes Biomimicry’s Corporate Innovation Council. Membership provides the sponsors with valuable knowledge and connections, special workshops and shared resources. During biannual meetings, sponsors share the ways biomimicry brings value to their organizations, e.g., generating intellectual property, embedding non-traditional thinking into teams, adding talent, creating sustainable value and providing access to biomimicry tools. Members learn from one another’s challenges and successes, tap into a robust biomimicry ecosystem in Northeast Ohio, and hear from cutting-edge researchers and practitioners in the field of biomimicry. Through the Corporate Innovation Council, Great Lakes Biomimicry supports each company’s unique journey as a leader in this new field.

Click here for our Biomimicry Fellowship Program Info Packet.

BRIC independently delivers the following services:

Biomimicry Design Challenge Sponsorship Opportunities, where UA students enrolled in a one-semester Biomimicry Design Challenge course, the capstone of our Undergrad Certificate in Biomimicry, work on a sponsor-identified challenge.

Research and Testing Services that allow an organization access to the intellectual expertise of BRIC faculty and staff, and/or to UA’s specialized equipment to pursue a high-potential research pathway or vet a biomimetic solution concept. Click here for more information.

For more information about Services: Contact Peter Niewiarowski, BRIC Principal Investigator / Director of Biomimicry Fellowships / Professor of Biology and Trisha Brown, Co-Director of Great Lakes Biomimicry.