Nature has long inspired visionaries to look beyond existing ways of living and thinking. Many notable engineers, architects, designers, and other creators have discovered unique adaptations between a species and its environment, and applied these insights to drive innovation across a huge variety of inventions, products, services, and industries.

Known as biomimicry, or biomimetics, the concept is simple. It recognizes nature as the ultimate problem solver, and as such, entails gaining inspiration from the various structures and systems of biological entities to develop innovative solutions and designs. Renowned American natural sciences writer and innovation consultant Janine Benyus describes biomimicry as “the conscious emulation of life’s genius.” A classic example of this in action can be seen in the recently developed ‘furry’ wetsuit, modelled after the beaver’s rubbery and insulated pelt.

To duplicate the ingenuity and efficiency found in the way nature solves problems, innovation-seeking companies must understand, encourage, and implement similar processes. One way to do this is to create a “beehive” – just as honeybees who discover the locations of flowers come back to the hive to share that valuable information, companies can benefit from a similar hub where employees can share and develop new ideas.

At Qmarkets, this is what we offer to leading companies such as Ford, Nestle, PMI, UniCredit, and Lufthansa in the form of cutting-edge configurable idea management software platforms.

From Evolutionary to Revolutionary: How Nature Inspires Outstanding Innovation

Nature has been developing, testing, and refining its processes and structures for around 3.8 billion years!. “Given the level of investment, it makes sense for us to use it,” says Michael Palwyn, an architect and thought leader specializing in biomimicry. “By applying ideas from ecosystems, you can turn problems into solutions that are better both environmentally and commercially.”

Simply looking at some of the most innovative designs of the last 100 years, we can see how animals and plants have consistently inspired major solutions to the design issues we humans have grappled with. The real challenge of biomimicry is just knowing where, and how, to look for new inspiration.

“Biomimicry is…the conscious emulation of life’s genius.” – Janine Benyus

Take the aeroplane. The Wright Brothers observed pigeons in flight before they built their prototypes. Upon closer inspection they noticed that the air flowing over the curved surface of the pigeons’ wings created the lift, which helped them succeed in flying the first plane in 1903. Of course, gleaning inspiration from bird wings to design an airplane is an obvious approach – but how about imitating birds to make better trains?

During the 1990s, engineer Eiji Nakatsu was tasked with developing a unique solution to the sonic boom made by the Japanese bullet train whenever it exited a tunnel. His eureka moment came when he observed the way a kingfisher enters the water silently to catch its prey. As such, Nakamura modeled the front of his train design on the shape of the kingfisher’s beak. This enabled silent tunnel exits at faster speeds, reducing noise pollution and improving efficiency at the same time.

In a similar unexpected fashion, sharks inspired inventors to create bacteria-free surfaces in hospitals, restaurant kitchens, and public restrooms. The way sharks repel microorganisms and keep their skin clean, led to the design of a material called riblets– now widely used in many industries today, including the aerospace and nautical sectors.

With biomimicry, creativity doesn’t require the apple to fall far from the tree. A lot of the solutions are right in front of us when we pay attention. In 1941 George de Mestral returned home from a hunting trip only to realize his dog was covered in burdock burrs. When plucking them off, Mestral became fascinated by the structure and grip-capabilities of the burrs. His fascination later inspired him to invent Velcro (one of the most widely used products today).

As we can see from these examples (and many more), studying the solutions which have been developed by animals and plants can be an extremely effective catalyst for the development of disruptive innovations and inventions.