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Having trouble viewing this e-mail? View it in your browser.<http://www.engr.utk.edu/enews/seminars/jeannette_yen_seminar.html> [The University of Tennessee, Knoxville]<http://www.utk.edu> [Seminar announcement]<http://www.engr.utk.edu/> Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering Graduate Seminar Speaker: [Jeannette Yen] Dr. Jeannette Yen, Director, Center for Biologically Inspired Design at the Georgia Institute of Technology 10:10-11:00 a.m. Wednesday, October 31, 2012 409 Dougherty Engineering Building "Creative Interdisciplinary Education Through a Biologically Inspired Design Curriculum" Biologically inspired design (BID) represents a powerful and logical bridge to multidisciplinary education. Biologists implicitly understand general principles relevant to function and design of biological objects, and have explicit knowledge embodied by a rich set of natural examples of organisms that successfully solve specific challenges. Engineers have explicit knowledge of quantitative assessment of function, and are accustomed to selecting design criteria and designing objects with specific functions. Thus both biologists and engineers face the problem of identifying design criteria, yet each approaches the problem from a unique perspective. Mixing upper level undergraduates majoring in engineering with those majoring in biology, we have devised a BID class that provides increased content knowledge and practical training in methods and techniques. These areas of concentration facilitate the identification and translation of biological principles into solutions for human challenges. Our course also was motivated by a desire to develop teaching practices that address persistent problems in science, technology, math, and engineering (STEM) education. Thus-our program utilizes the connection between biological and engineering functions to develop problem solving, critical thinking, and research and inquiry skills in an interdisciplinary setting. This is addressed by fostering the development of, and assessing progress towards five learning goals that are informed by our cognitive science studies of student learning in a BID context: (1) novel techniques for creative design, (2) interdisciplinary communication skills, (3) knowledge about domains outside of their core training, (4) a uniquely interdisciplinary collaborative process, and (5) application of existing technical knowledge to a new discipline. We defined specific student skills for each of these elements that are accessed via cognitive science studies, in situ class observations, and student surveys. Our analysis of student performance in class, as well as our cognitive science studies suggest that our methods increase student design creativity, promote a better understanding of quantitative techniques (particularly among the biologists), facilitates open ended problem solving skills, and allows students to apply their knowledge successfully to domains outside their field by increasing interdisciplinary communication. Dr. Jeannette Yen is the Director of Georgia Tech's Center for Biologically Inspired Design. Along with co-directors Marc Weissburg, Craig Tovey, Bert Bras, and Ashok Goel, the Center brings together a group of interdisciplinary biologists, engineers and physical scientists who seek to facilitate research and education for innovative products and techniques based on biologically-inspired design solutions. Biologically inspired design can be used to develop new materials, new sensing and locomotory system, more efficient chemical processes, and more environmentally conscious design and manufacturing systems. This unique method trains scientists and engineers and designers to ask, "What problems does this biological system solve?" At the Georgia Institute of Technology, the goal of the Center for Biologically Inspired Design is to facilitate, develop infrastructure for, and promote interdisciplinary research and education. The participants of Georgia Tech's Center for Biologically-Inspired Design believe that science and technology are increasingly hitting the limits of approaches based on traditional disciplines, and Biology may serve as an untapped resource for design methodology, with concept-testing having occurred over millions of years of evolution. Experiencing the benefits of Nature as a source of innovative and inspiring principles encourages us to preserve and protect the natural world rather than simply to harvest its products. Yen's PhD is in biological oceanography. She studies how fluid mechanical and chemical cues transported at low Re flow serve as communication channels for aquatic organisms, primarily plankton: the base of aquatic food webs. She is a professor in the School of Biology and has been at the Georgia Institute of Technology since 2000. CONTACT US University of Tennessee College of Engineering<http://www.engr.utk.edu/> Mechanical, Aerospace, and Biomedical Engineering 414 Dougherty Engineering Building 1512 Middle Drive Knoxville, TN 37996-2210 Phone: (865) 974-5115 Fax: (865) 974-5274 E-mail: [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> Big Orange. 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