Amid Wave of Bioinspiration, San Diego Zoo Creates Innovation Center
Bruce V. Bigelow8/29/12Follow @bvbigelow
Over the past few years, the San Diego Zoo has generated a new revenue stream by developing a variety of educational and business programs focused on biomimicry, a school of thought often described as “innovation inspired by nature.”
Using its in-house expertise in conservation, zoology, botany, and other fields, the zoo has organized conferences, developed course materials, and hosted workshops to show how biological designs, processes, and materials can be applied to transform industry and commerce. In its own imitation of nature, the zoo also has worked to expand the ecosystem of biomimicry-focused businesses and research institutions. The zoo even commissioned a report last year that says biomimicry could generate as much as $300 billion annually to the U.S. economy by 2025.
Now San Diego Zoo Global, the umbrella organization that operates the San Diego Zoo, Safari Park, and Institute for Conservation Research, has established a new “Centre for Bioinspiration,” with the idea of using biomimicry to inspire a cornucopia of innovation. The core mission is with a product incubator that is intended to help advance biologically inspired products that arise both inside and outside the zoo.
Technologies emerging from the … Next Page »
