Conference: Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design (February 18-20, 2010, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ)

仿生学是模仿自然的形式和过程，以更有效和可持续地满足人类设计挑战的实践。 会议，社会仿生学：昆虫社会和人类设计，将探讨如何社会昆虫，如蚂蚁，蜜蜂和白蚁可以告知人类设计。 数百万年来，社会性昆虫已经进化出紧密结合的社会，其范围和复杂程度只有人类可以与之媲美。社会性昆虫个体的行为能力相对简单，但通过集体行为，它们解决了大型社会群体围绕共同目标组织和沟通所固有的许多实际问题。 基于蚂蚁觅食行为的计算机模型已经被用于在互联网等忙碌繁忙的通信网络中路由流量，建筑师正在模仿白蚁土丘来建造节能的被动冷却建筑。然而，社会昆虫启发设计的实施受到限制，部分原因是缺乏跨学科和专业界限的沟通和协调。 会议将通过将生物学家-包括社会昆虫生物学和复杂性理论领域的领导者-与设计师，工程师和商人聚集在一起来解决这一缺点，目的是促进概念，观点和工具的交流。 这一活动应（1）通过揭示基础研究的新应用和刺激问题驱动研究的新领域来丰富生物学，（2）推进仿生学领域，这是创新和经济增长的重要引擎。 会议还设有一个公共的社会昆虫科学博览会！该项目将把亚利桑那州立大学的研究人员与凤凰城社区的成员联系起来，包括当地K-12学校的学生。 会议由亚利桑那州立大学社会昆虫研究小组的研究生小组组织和领导，并鼓励来自美国和国外的本科生和研究生参与。 会议提供了一个独特的机会，培养未来的科学家，使他们具备组织和举办专业会议所需的领导技能，并在跨学科背景下交流和应用他们的工作。 会议成果将通过同行审查的文章和流行文章以及互联网资源广泛传播。

Biomimicry is the practice of imitating nature's forms and processes to more effectively and sustainably meet human design challenges. The conference, Social Biomimicry: Insect Societies and Human Design, will explore how social insects such as ants, bees, and termites can inform human design. Over millions of years, the social insects have evolved tightly integrated societies rivaled only by humans in their scope and sophistication. Individual social insect workers are relatively simple in their behavioral capabilities, but through their collective behavior they have solved many practical problems inherent in large social groups organizing and communicating around common goals. Already, computer models based on ant foraging behavior are being used to route traffic in busy communications networks such as the Internet, and architects are mimicking termite mounds to build passively-cooled buildings that save energy. However, the implementation of social-insect-inspired design has been limited, in part, by lack of communication and coordination across disciplinary and professional boundaries. The conference will address this shortcoming by bringing together biologists - including leaders in the field of social insect biology and complexity theory - with designers, engineers, and businesspeople, with the goal of promoting the exchange of concepts, perspectives, and tools. This activity should (1) enrich biology, by revealing new applications of basic research and stimulating new areas of problem-driven research, and (2) advance the field of biomimicry, which is an important engine for innovation and economic growth. The conference also features a public Social Insect Science EXPO! which will connect researchers at Arizona State University with members of the Phoenix community, including underrepresented students from local K-12 schools. The conference is organized and led by a panel of graduate students from ASU's Social Insect Research Group, and encourages participation by undergraduate and graduate students from the U.S. and abroad. The conference provides a unique opportunity in training future scientists with the leadership skills necessary to organize and run a professional meeting and to communicate and apply their work in an interdisciplinary context. Conference results will be disseminated broadly through peer-reviewed and popular articles and Internet resources.