Conference Title

Location

Day Month Year

Conference Chairman’s Welcome

Dear Colleague,

On behalf of the scientific committee of the conference on Bionic Engineering – the first to be held in the USA – I hope that you will be able to attend our gathering in Boston this September. You will find yourself in an entrepreneurial community, keen to apply ideas gleaned from the world of plants and animals.

Are you interested in Bio-inspired Design? Or perhaps it’s Biomimicry, or Biomimetics? Maybe you’d rather speak of Bionics, or even Biognosis? There’s space for all these, and more. The world of organisms has proved itself remarkably robust and resilient, and we wish to emulate these characteristics in our own technology. This means that we need to know both the biological processes and the means of transferring technology. The range of biological topics is wide, from locomotion and materials to problem-solving and creativity. All are needed for successful innovation.

We can’t change technology in less than three days, but we can give the process a push. The increased activity and funding – both commercial and academic – in this interfacial area where biology and engineering meet have already stimulated effort and success. Perhaps we can move engineering to embrace biological characteristics with ensuing benefits for our continued survival.

We’ve plenty to talk about and do. Be part of it! I look forward to welcoming you.

Julian Vincent – Conference Chair,
University of Bath, UK