DFP@UBC Seminar with Adam Clare
Details
Join us for the DFP Monthly Seminar Series featuring Dr. Adam Clare, as he explores “True Biomimetics”. Stick around for the post-seminar networking event hosted by Mechanical Engineering relating to the search for the Patrick Campbell Design Chair in Engineering Design. You won’t want to miss this opportunity!
ABSTRACT: Nature solves problems in an elegant fashion. Often these solutions are badly emulated by designers via biomimicry which draws upon the solutions obtained by nature and applies these to engineering problems. This has served to create an array of fantastic designs which exceed what may be achieved through conventional design approaches. Common place examples include the cooling of microelectronics inspired by termite nest architecture or the stay clean surfaces which exploit the lotus leaf effect.
However, we tend to overlook the system level when mimicking what we see in nature. In favour of copying the elements (or unit cells) of a solution we disregard the population effects and lose sight of emergent behaviours. We cannot see the wood for the trees.
It is common in nature to discover stochasticity at all length scales within a single organism or across a population. This was observed by Sir Francis Galton who sought to measure the randomness and ascribe values to the variation which is self-evident. From organism-to-organism and from unit cell-to-unit cell randomness is always found. How can this be exploited for the purpose of improving design in all domains? How can we create tools which allow the designer to create systems which are not too uniform and not too random?
In this talk we will explore ‘true’ biomimetics in which attempts are made to emulate not just naturally occurring morphology but also the ‘random nature’ of the systems we see. Recent work will be presented which showcases methods to create more realistic shark skin for hydrodynamic performance and the utilisation of true biomimetics to create superior aerospace engineering components. This approach is presented as an opportunity for all designers to consider how better performing and more resilient solutions can be created across disciplines.
BIO: I am currently a Professor of Manufacturing Engineering at the University of British Columbia and hold the Rolls-Royce/Royal Academy of Engineering Research Chair at the University of Nottingham, UK where I worked since 2010 before joining UBC. I have had Fellowships during this time at various research centres of excellence including University of Tokyo, AMRC/MTC and a secondment to Rolls-Royce Submarines.
My research focuses on the use of non-traditional manufacturing methods to arrive at net shape while inducing favourable material properties. I am particularly interested in developing new manufacturing methods and materials for use in the high value manufacturing sectors including aerospace, tooling, and biomedical engineering. In these competitive markets product differentiation is often directly linked to additional functionality or performance. Through the development of new manufacturing technologies and materials my team endeavours to deliver this.
I currently have Editorial roles with the Journal of Materials Processing Technology (subject editor) and the International Journal of Machine Tools and Manufacture (Associate Editor).
I am also a Founder, Director and Scientific Advisor to Texture Jet Ltd and Scintam Engineering Ltd which are University spin out companies. Through 'TJ' and ‘Scintam’ we are exploiting technology developed from within our team for customers predominantly in the aerospace sector.
MODE OF DELIVERY: Hybrid - in person or via Zoom. Lunch will be provided at 12pm for in-person attendees.
WHERE: DFP Classroom 2300A (2nd Floor), Forestry Science Centre, 2424 Main Mall.
DIRECTIONS: Once you are inside the Forestry Science building, walk to the rear (South-East) of the building and pass through the large open study area then up the stairs to the 2nd floor student lounge (“Treetop”) area. Turn left, pass through a double door and the room 2300A is the first on the right.