Investigating the role of spatial thinking in children’s design ideation through an open-ended design-by-analogy challenge

Spatial thinking is ubiquitous in design. Design education across all age groups encompasses a range of spatially challenging activities, such as forming and modifying mental representations of ideas, and visualizing the scenarios of design prototypes being used. While extensive research has examined the cognitive processes of spatial...

Scaffolding Pupils’ Spatial Thinking through Design: A Biomimicry Project for the Primary Classroom

Spatial thinking is embedded in science, technology, engineering, arts, and mathematics (STEAM) learning. Design and Technology education inherently encompasses a wide range of spatial activities, such as mentally transforming objects and materials to form representations of design ideas, visually communicating ideas, and creating 2D and 3D...

Analogical Reasoning in Biomimicry Design Education

“Teaching is both an art and a science” (Harrison & Coll, 2008 p.1). Good teaching excites students and cultivates their curiosity to learn more than they are asked. But what if students’ blank faces tell you that the teaching did not land, what can you do? Using an analogy or metaphor to explain the principle helps students visualize and...

Insect-inspired robots: Bridging biological and artificial systems

This review article aims to address common research questions in hexapod robotics. How can we build intelligent autonomous hexapod robots that can exploit their biomechanics, morphology, and computational systems, to achieve autonomy, adaptability, and energy efficiency comparable to small living creatures, such as insects? Are insects good...

Polymer nano manufacturing of a biomimicking surface for kidney stone crystallization studies

Detected kidney stone cases are increasing globally, yet knowledge on the conditions for stone formation is lacking. Experimental approaches mimicking the micro-environmental conditions present in vivo can help sci-entists untangle intertwined physiochemical and biological phenomena leading to kidney stone formation. As crystal nucleation often...

Natural architectures for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine

The ability to control the interactions between functional biomaterials and biological systems is of great importance for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. However, the underlying mechanisms defining the interplay between biomaterial properties and the human body are complex. Therefore, a key challenge is to design biomaterials that...

Biomimicry design thinking education: a base-line exercise in preconceptions of biological analogies

Preliminary empirical research conducted by the leading author has shown that design students using biological analogies, or models across different contexts, often misinterpreted these, intentionally or unintentionally, during design. By copying shape or form without integrating the main function of the mimicked biological model, students...