UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE OF ENGINEERING

Academic Unit IV

Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Science & Engineering)

Biology For Engineers

22SZT148
By
Dr. Devinder Kaur
DISCOVER . LEARN .
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 1
EMPOWER
 INTRODUCTION

Course Objective

• This subject is designed to impart

fundamental knowledge on basic of
genetics and emerging fields of biology
like biomedical recording system and
medical instrumentation.
• It is designed to impart knowledge that
how to apply basics of biology in
engineering.
https://www.uic.es/sites/default/files/uic-grau-
bioenginyeria-hero-header_1.jpg

Biology for Engineers 2

 INTRODUCTION
Space for visual (size 24)
Course Outcome

CO Title Level
Number
CO1 Identify the biological concepts from an knowledge
engineering perspective.
CO2 Development of artificial systems mimicking Understand
human action.
CO3 Explain the basic of genetics that helps to Analyze
identify and formulate problems

CO4 Apply knowledge of measurement system, Apply

Will be covered in this
biomedical recording system and biosensors to lecture
excel in areas such as entrepreneurship,
medicine, government, and education.
https://specials-
images.forbesimg.com/imageserve/1034901762/96
CO5 Integrate biological principles for developing Create
next generation technologies,
0x0.jpg?fit=scale
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 3
 SYLLABUS

Unit-1 Importance of Biology In Engineering Contact Hours: 15

Introduction: Fundamental Differences between Science and engineering by drawing a
Chapter 1 comparison between eye and camera, Bird flying and aircraft. Significance of Biology in
Engineering, Discuss how biological observations of 18th Century that lead to major
Significance of Biology discoveries, Examples from Brownian motion and the origin of thermodynamics by referring to
in Engineering the original observation of Robert and Julius Mayor.

Genetics: Mendel’s laws, Concept of segregation and independent assortment, concept of

Chapter 2 allele, gene mapping, Gene interaction, Epitasis, Meiosis and Mitosis as a part of genetics.
Mechanism of how genetic material passes from parent to offspring. Concepts of
Genetics
recessiveness and dominance. Concept of mapping of phenotype to Genes, single gene
disorders in humans, concept of complementation using human genetics.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 4

SIGNIFICANCE OF BIOLOGY IN
ENGINEERING
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 5
WHY DOES AN ENGINEER NEED ANY KNOWLEDGE OF
BIOLOGY?
 Due to the nature of engineering, problem solving requires
the most background knowledge as you can get.
 The more knowledge you have about natural structures and
functions the easier it will be to create artificial ones.
 By adapting mechanisms and capabilities from nature,
scientific approaches have helped humans understand the
related phenomena and the associated principles in order to
engineer novel devices and improve their capability

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 6

NEED FOR BIOLOGY
 The previous few centuries saw a better fundamental understanding of
the physical and chemical world through advances in physics and
chemistry.
 The better understanding and advances gave rise to technologies and
products, such as computers, communication devices, aircraft, and others
that revolutionized life.
 Since this is the century of biology, a similar phenomenon is expected,
which will lead to probably another revolution. Many engineers are
expected to contribute to a biological aspect to fuel this revolution.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS

7
NEED FOR BIOLOGY
 It is very much important for engineering students to understand the
basic principles of engineering and the introduction of biological
concepts so that they can effectively interact to concern for
providing solutions to the problems related to biosystems.
 Therefore, the engineering undergraduates need to be suitably
exposed at least to the very minimum biology, so that they would
at least be able to consider a biological system/aspect in which
they could later make appropriate contributions, through their main
expertise, say electrical engineering, mechanical engineering,
computer science, materials engineering, or any other.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 8

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS
 Biological engineering, or bioengineering/bio-engineering, is the
application of principles of biology and the tools of engineering to
create usable, tangible, economically viable products.

 In general, biological engineers (or biomedical engineers) attempt

to either mimic biological systems to create products or modify and
control biological systems so that they can replace, augment,
sustain, or predict chemical and mechanical processes.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 9

 BIOMIMICRY OR BIO-INSPIRED DESIGN
Biomimicry involves the translation of knowledge obtained
from the natural world into new innovations.
When using nature as inspiration we learn from a system that
has developed resilience, adaptability and efficiency over
centuries.
This is also called bio-inspired design.
Lessons from nature can be translated into innovations in the
fields of products, organizational forms and processes.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 10

BIOMIMICRY OR BIOMIMETICS
Some of the commercial implementations of the progress in
biomimetics can be seen in toy stores, in which toys appear
and behave like living creatures (e.g., dogs, cats, birds,
and frogs).
More serious benefits of biomimetics include the
development of prosthetic implants that appear very much
like biological origin, and sensory aiding mechanisms that
are interfaced to the brain to assist in hearing or seeing or
controlling instruments.
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 11
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)
 AI is a branch of computer science that studies the computational requirements for
such tasks as perception, reasoning, and learning, to allow the development of
systems that perform these capabilities.
 AI researchers are addressing a wide range of problems that include studying the
requirements for expert performance of specialized tasks, explaining behaviors in
terms of low-level processes, using models inspired by the computation of the
brain and explaining them in terms of higher-level psychological constructs such as
plans and goals.
 The field seeks to advance the understanding of human cognition, understand the
requirements for intelligence in general, and develop artifacts such as intelligent
devices, autonomous agents, and systems that cooperate with humans to enhance
their abilities.
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 12
BIOMIMICRY
 Nature constantly seeks new equilibria and actively responds to
change.
 Biomimicry involves knowledge development of natural functions,
models, systems and strategies and the translation of this knowledge
into practical applications to drive innovation.
 Rather than focusing on the separate links, it is important that the
entire chain is visualized during the process.
 This integrated approach rests on the fact that everything is
connected and balanced in nature.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 13

BIOLOGICALLY INSPIRED DESIGN (BID)
 Modern engineering problems require solutions with multiple
functionalities in order to meet their practical needs to handle a
variety of applications in different scenarios.
 Biologically inspired engineering design uses analogies to biological
systems to develop solutions for engineering problems.
 The goals of the study is to understand the process of biologically
inspired engineering design and to provide insight into biologically
inspired design as a type of design activity.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 14

DESIGN PROCESS
 A design process is a systematic approach followed by designers while trying to
solve a problem, which could be as simple as designing a chair or could be as
complex as designing an aircraft.
 Irrespective of the complexity of the problem, looking for inspiration before
starting to design has been a normative step in the world of design.
 Especially when it comes to exploration and discovery of new ideas.
 Therefore, designers have started to follow a systematic approach to seek
inspirations outside the problem domain to find solutions (i.e., domain-
independent) where the problems are closely related to the original problem
domain.
 The bio-inspired engineering design approach is one of systematic approaches
using analogies from biological creatures in the nature to develop solutions for
handling engineering problems
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 15
SOLUTION-BASED BIO-INSPIRED DESIGN (SB-BID)
Modern engineering problems often require solutions with
intrinsic compliance, for better function variety, environment
adaptivity, and structure flexibility.
 Nano-scale superhydrophobic coatings inspired by the self-
cleaning mechanism of lotus leaves
 The imitation of the pinecones to design clothes that can regulate
body temperature
 The design of micro-robots that can walk on water, mimicking the
locomotion of the basilisk lizard

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 16

SOLUTION-BASED BIO-INSPIRED DESIGN (SB-BID)
The whole design process consists of eight steps
1) Biological solutions identification
2) Biological solutions definition/champion biological solutions
3) Principle extraction from each champion biological solution
4) Merging of extracted principles
5) Solution reframing
6) Problem search
7) Problem definition
8) Principles application & implementation.
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 17
BIOMIMETIC DESIGN: EXAMPLES OF NATURE
INSPIRING TECHNOLOGY

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 18

WHALE :: WIND TURBINES
 The humpback whale weighs an astonishing 36 tonnes,
yet it is one of the most elegant swimmers, divers and
jumpers in the sea.
 As first researched by Frank Fish, a biomechanic, these
aerodynamic abilities are greatly attributed to the
bumpy protrusions on the front of its fins, called tubercles.
 Similar to the processes of aircraft wings, whales use their
fins at different steepening angles to increase their lift.
 Too much tilt though, and the opposite will occur and
they’ll stall – a loss of lift due to current turbulence and
the formation of eddies in the water.
 By comparing bumpy blades to smooth-edged ones,
scientists found that stalling occurs at a much higher
angle with tubercles – an increase by nearly 40 per cent.
 Further testing also revealed that serrated-edge wind
turbines proved to be more efficient and quieter than the The bump-like tubercles on a humpback whale (Megaptera
Novaeangliae) © Getty
typical smooth blades.
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 19
BOX FISH AND THE BIONIC CAR

Despite the cumbersome appearance of the boxfish, it has a low flow resistance
and a drag coefficient of an astounding 0.06. In comparison, penguins
swimming through water have a coefficient of 0.19.

In 2005, inspired by the great structural strength and low mass of the boxfish,
Mercedes Benz developed the Bionic Car, which reported to reduce drag, have
great rigidity, low weight and a significantly lower fuel consumption than
traditional cars.

https://youtu.be/5tFqlhATUZs
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 20
 KINGFISHER AND THE SHINKANSEN
 Japan is renowned for the incredible speed and efficiency of
their trains. However, with speeds in excess of 300km/h,
bullet trains presented a problem in creating huge sonic
boom every time they emerged from a tunnel. The Shinkansen bullet train zipping past Mt Fuji with its destinctive,
kingfisher-inspired nose © Getty
 Engineers drew inspiration from a rather unlikely source: the
Kingfisher.
 Kingfishers are masters in travelling between the mediums of
air water, with very little splash. Just like the Kingfisher,
the Shinkansen bullet train is equipped with a long beak-
shaped nose.
 This significantly reduces the amount of noise the train makes,
but also uses 15 per cent less electricity, and travels 10 per Biology Inspired Designs
https://inteng-storage.s3.amazonaws.com/img/iea/jvwvMony6x/sizes/untitled-
cent faster than before. design_resize_md.png

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 21

VELCRO
George de Mestral was inspired to invent Velcro after
noticing how easy it was for burrs to stick to his dog’s
hair.
Upon studying them under a microscope, he noticed the
simple design of tiny hooks at the end of the burr’s
spines.
These were able to catch anything with a loop, such as
fur and fabric, and he went on to replicate this
synthetically.
His two-part velcro fastening system uses a strip of
loosely looping nylon opposite a strip of tiny hooks, and
has since been prolific in its range of applications and
popularity.
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 22
LOTUS-INSPIRED HYDROPHOBIA
 The lotus effect, otherwise known as superhydrophobicity, is the
effect seen on the leaves of the Lotus flower, where water is not
able to wet the surface and simply rolls off.
 This high repellence is due to the nanostructure of the plane,
where micro-protrusions coated in waxy hydrophobic materials
repel the water.
 This is also a self-cleaning mechanism as dirt particles also stick
to the water molecule.
 Copying this process, CeNano developed nanotol – a
hydrophobic (water-repelling), lipophobic (fat-repelling), and
oleophobic (oil-repelling) sealant that can be sprayed to
substances to create their own superhydrophobicity.
 The applications of these are huge, and amazingly satisfying to
watch. BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 23
BIRD-SAFE GLASS

It is estimated that 100 million birds die every year as a

result of flying into glass, and the reason is obvious –
they simply do not recognise the transparent structure as
a physical barrier.
To address this problem, a company developed
biomimetic Ornilux Birdsafe Glass, drawing inspiration
from the UV reflective strands in spider webs, which birds
see and therefore avoid.
This is a clear mutual benefit for both species, and so
Ornilux sought to replicate this with their criss-crossing UV
glass.
BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 24
BUTTERFLY AND SOLAR CELL

The rose butterfly has tiny cells on its

intricate and delicate wings that can
collect light at any angle.
The black wings of the rose butterfly
have inspired a new type of solar
cell that is two times more efficient
at harvesting light

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 25

USE OF ENGINEERING IN BIOLOGY
 Mechanical Engineering: Biological system prosthetics.

 Computer science and engineering: Computational biology robotics.

 Electrical engineering: Robotics devices and photonics signals & image processing.

 Chemical engineering: Biotechnological nanoparticles interfaces polymers biofuels.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 26

 CONCLUSION
Biomimicry has the best potential to be harmonious with
nature while resulting in better outcomes than any
artificial means of development.
Animals, plants, and insects have utilized such technology
to establish their ecosystem with no adverse effects to
nature, and such behavior and way of life is what we
humans may need in the current era.

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 27

TOPIC FOR SELF STUDY
Biological Observations of 18th century that
lead to major discoveries

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 28

 REFERENCES

• Biologically Inspired Design; Computational Methods and Tools Ashok K Goel, Daniel A McAdams, Robert B. Stone (Ed).
Springer, 2014.
• https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-5248-4

• https://youtu.be/tont-BzM1II
• https://doi.org/10.3389/fnbot.2019.00078
• https://www.researchgate.net/publication/242526086
• Gupta, P.K.. Cytology, Genetics and Molecular Biology, Rastogi Publishers, Meerut, 1993.
• Roit I.M., Brostoff J. and Male D. Mosby .Immunology (6 th Edition) by, An imprint of Elsevier Sci Ltd., 2002.
• https://nptel.ac.in/courses/121/106/121106008/
• https://www.utoledo.edu/engineering/bioengineering/undergrad/prospective/whatisbioe.html#:~:text=Bioengineering%
20is%20the%20application%20of,health%20care%20and%20other%20fields.
• https://i.pinimg.com/originals/68/c9/30/68c930e95113ceb2e3dfc9de2f164680.png
• https://youtu.be/FBUpnG1G4yQ

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 30

THANK YOU

For queries
Email: [email protected]

BIOLOGY FOR ENGINEERS 30