Abstract
Every day, engineers are confronted with complex challenges that range from personal to municipal to national needs. The ability for future engineers to work in cross-disciplinary environments will be an essential competency. One approach to achieving this essential competency is teaching biomimicry or bio-inspired design in an engineering curriculum. Bio-inspired design encourages learning from nature to generate innovative designs for man-made technical challenges that are more economic, efficient and sustainable than ones conceived entirely from first principles. This chapter reviews current teaching practices and courses in engineering curricula for training students in multidisciplinary design innovation through bio-inspired design. Emphasis is placed on theory-based and evidenced-based approaches that have demonstrated learning impact. The significance and implications of teaching bio-inspired design in an engineering curriculum are discussed, and connections to how the essential competencies of future engineers are fostered is addressed. Teaching bio-inspired design in an engineering curriculum using cross-disciplinary approaches will not only develop essential competencies of tomorrow’s engineer, but also enable students to become change agents and promote a sustainable future.
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