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

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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.