The CSIRO website states: “Biomimetic engineering mimics natural systems, utilising molecular self-assembly as the key link between physics, chemistry and biology, creating novel advanced structures, materials, and devices.”

Moment of inspiration

One example is the PAX Impeller, which could revolutionise fluid-moving machinery as pumps, fans, propellers, mixers, and turbines. Cameron Burns from Rocky Mountain Institute wrote in 2002 that “Pax’s impeller design is based on a logarithmic spiral known as a Phi Ratio or Fibonacci Sequence that occurs in many places in nature, yet few designers have ever mimicked them. When rotated in water or air, the impeller makes the fluid flow smoothly in a vortex, like water exiting a bathtub. In contrast, the most common kinds of conventional pumps and fans sling the fluid outward and bounce it off a curved wall to make some of it move in the desired direction.”

Now based in the US, Australian Scientist Jay Harman, CEO of PAX Scientific is designing new fan technology that claims to have energy savings of 50%, and be around 75% quieter compared to fans, impellers and propellers using traditional shapes and designs. Harman had his moment of inspiration when he was 10-years-old, swimming off the coast in Western Australia. Like almost every young Australian he wanted to swim faster, so he watched how fish moved through water and how seaweed moved against the reef when a wave crashed. He noticed that kelp moved in the shape of a spiral to withstand the force of the waves and noticed spirals as a common design pattern in nature.

Until Harman’s work, no one had used this natural design shape for fans, impellers or propellers, even though it is used widely to reduce friction for air and water flows in nature.

Whale dynamics

Baleen Filter technology is another example of biomimetic engineering. This is an adaptation of the technique used by filter-feeding whales to keep their baleen clean and free of debris. The baleen is the filter mechanism that allows the whale to collect plankton, small fish and other marine organisms from the water during feeding.

The Baleen filter is a highly efficient, non-pressurised self-cleaning separation technology that achieves reliable filtration to 25 microns without chemical assistance. It offers significant cost and environmental benefits. The company Baleen Filters was established in 1999 after a four-year industrially applied research and development program from the University of South Australia. The technology is based upon an internationally patented (by the University of South Australia) combination of fluidparticle dynamics and mechanical principles to instantly separate fine suspended solids from all types of water based streams. The Baleen Filter is already successfully performing wastewater treatment processes in the food, wine, meat and livestock, transport and fruit and vegetable packing industries in Australia.

Yuri Obst was the originator of the idea and is now Managing Director of Baleen Filter. “The mechanism used by the Baleen filter works much the same way the Baleen whale strains (its prey from seawater) and swallows. This mechanism allows industrial wastewater with higher pollutant loads to be filtered than was previously possible with conventional industrial filters.”

Inspiring innovations in renewable energy

There is a wide network in Australia of researchers in CSIRO and universities investigating renewable energy possibilities through artificially mimicking the process of photosynthesis. These scientists are seeking to mimic the photosynthetic centres active site and thereby create more efficient ways to harness the sun’s energy than current solar cell design.

Dyesol Limited has been formed based on mimicking aspects of plants’ photosynthesis. Its headquarters and manufacturing centre are in Queanbeyan, NSW. Dyesol’s technology, a form of artificial photosynthesis, is based on Dye Solar Cell (DSC), which has been identified in the Japanese and EU Photovoltaic Roadmaps as the emerging solar technology.

In August 2005, Dyesol Limited was listed on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX). Dyesol manufactures and supplies a range of DSC products comprising equipment, chemicals, materials, components and related services to researchers and manufacturers of DSC.

Heavy industry can learn from nature

Nature manufactures in ambient temperature, under everyday pressures, and produces no waste, let alone any toxic waste. Everything is re-used and is a resource for something else. At Monash University, the Green Chemistry Institute is researching ways that industrial chemistry can be made benign like nature.

Green chemists are designing new reaction pathways that optimise the environmental sustainability of the chemical process. They are using novel catalysts, benign solvents, alternative chemical reaction pathways and even bacteria and micro-organisms to invent new ways to meet society’s needs.Western Australian based Titan Resources Ltd’s BioHeap technology is an example of bioleaching. BioHeap utilises proprietary bacteria which directly oxidises primary sulphide minerals. This allows the process to operate at low temperatures compared to traditional approaches and hence produces minimal greenhouse emissions. A new company, BioHeap Ltd, has been set up to expand the use of the technology globally. It was launched on the UK stockmarket in 2005.  The company is involved with the development and commercialisation of the innovative BioHeap process through a number of initiatives around the world including in China.

Biomimetic possibilities

How do you prevent bacterial build-up or biofilms (bacterial colonies) on boats or any surface in water, using an environmentally benign approach with no heavy metals or harmful chemicals? Sydney-based Professor Peter Steinberg found such a solution.  Steinberg explains how they came across their discovery: “Shallow marine organisms are subjected to a rain of fouling organisms from the water column –bacteria, algal spores, larvae – and so the ones with clean surfaces in those habitats are worth paying attention to.

Steinberg and his colleague Staffan Kjelleberg discovered that the Delisia Pulchra plant didn’t kill bacteria. Instead, it emitted a molecule to dissuade bacteria from colonising on its surface, effectively jamming the bacteria’s communication networks.

Using this insight, they mimicked the chemical and have subsequently invented an environmentally friendly antifouling substance that can be used on surfaces in hospitals, contact lenses and paints to reduce slimy build-ups in an environmentally benign manner. The company they founded to commercialise this technology, Biosignal, was incorporated in 1999 and listed on the ASX in early April 2004. 

Peter Steinberg and Staffan Kjelleberg are also investigating ways their discovery could revolutionise medicine. The potential for these naturally derived chemicals is enormous, from treating cystic fibrosis, fighting staph infections and replacing antibiotics.

These examples show that biomimicry is an important area of innovation for sustainability in Australia. Janine Benyus has created the Biomimicry Guild to create databases of examples where nature has evolved sustainable design solutions of relevance to humanity. It is time for such a database to be done for Australia featuring Australia’s unique flora and fauna in partnership with the Biomimicry Guild to further help stimulate much needed innovations for sustainability.

The Natural Edge Project (TNEP) is a not for profit partnership for research on innovation for sustainable prosperity.  Established in November 2002 with in-kind administrative hosting from The Institution of Engineers Australia, the project is now hosted by Griffith University.

TNEP has developed a range of projects focused on education and training for sustainable development, including working with universities, industry groups, government agencies, companies, and touring international keynote speakers such as Janine Benyus author of the bestselling Biomimicry – Innovation Inspired by Nature in 2006.

Together with Benyus, TNEP have developed a ‘Biomimetic Design’ training program as part of The Natural Edge Project’s Engineering Sustainable Solutions Portfolio (ESSP). The program will be free access and open source and was launched with UNESCO and the Institution of Engineers Australia.