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The Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs and the Integrative Sciences Initiative are holding a one-day symposium focused on biomimicry, which seeks inspiration and innovation from nature to tackle challenges and solve problems.<\/p>\n
Through a series of talks, they will sketch out a big picture vision for biomimicry, with an expansion of connections to molecular biomimicry and connections between biomimicry and natural history. It is anticipated that this is an area that we will invest in at NC State with the growth associated with the Integrative Sciences Initiative. The morning of the event will be open talks (and they will be looking for folks willing to give lightning talks). The talks will be pitched to a broad audience, but will highlight opportunities for collaboration and innovation.<\/p>\n
The afternoon will be a working group composed primarily of the morning’s speakers and focused on redefining and reimagining the field, through a white paper and synthesis paper. In these products, they will attempt to describe the areas of greatest potential in biomimicry in the future. This will be the first of a number of regular working group style meetings hosted by the Office of University Interdisciplinary Programs. They will also identify new opportunities to create stronger “pipelines” for innovation in biomimicry. How, for example, do we connect natural history observations to molecular innovation, but how, also, do we connect molecular innovation to applied needs and entrepreneurship?<\/p>\n