BioInspired! So What? Now What!

Marianne Alleyne is a research Scientist in the Department of Entomology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.  Her blog highlights research in "new technologies that were inspired by insects or basic discoveries about insect biology that could lead to new innovations."  She provides extensive links to primary sources. 

Her Insect Bits & Bytes (May 2013) provided background and covered:

• Compound eye-inspired camera
• Robotic Flyer
• Water-repellent, self-cleaning cicada wings
• Thin film interface inspired by moth eyes
• Ants tunneling, falling and catching themselves
• Sound perception in moths
• Jumping Robots

The Dawn of the Artificial Coprophages describes insect-inspired robotics along with various research projects, Jump! Go Ahead, Jump, Little Springtail explores the 'spring' in springtails and Field Trip to the Alleyne Lab talks about what we can learn from cockroaches.  Introducing Engineering Students to BioInspiration explores Marianne's approach to biomimicry and creativity (includes lots of resources).  The many feathers in all my caps covered the Biomimicry Europe Innovation and Finance Summit (Zurich, Switzerland, August 2012), the Annual Meeting of the Entomological Society of America (Knoxville, TN, November 2012) and Science Online 2013 (Raleigh, NC, January 2013) from the perspective of different 'hats'.