Hello Everyone!!

Hello people! :)

This blog dictates the 14 week journey of the study of a terrapin which is the pet of choice in the subject ENG 61703 Engineering and Biomimetics. The reason we choose this subject is due to our interest in studying the locomotion of these animals. In accordance to this blog, we would like to thank Dr. Yong Leng Chuan for being the ever understanding lecturer and Prof. Mushtak Al-Atabi for giving us this opportunity to embrace nature's beauty into our engineering capabilities. Hope you enjoy browsing through this enjoy as a token of our appreciation.

Welcome people, to our Biomimetics blog. This blog is part of the course requirement for Engineering and Biomimetics. Throughout our 14-week course, we will be chronicling a pet of our choice to study the possible real-life applications from its biology.

For the uninitiated, Biomimetics is the imitation of the models, systems, and elements of nature for the purpose of solving complex human problems. It is innovation inspired by nature, by learning how nature get things done, then utilizing what we have learned to improve human lives. The word 'biomimetics' itself is derived from Ancient Greek language, bio meaning life, and mimetics from mīmēsis which means imitation.

One of the most popular cases of biomimetics in our real life uses is the Velcro straps. A Swiss engineer by the name of George de Mestral was intrigued by how burrs (or seeds) of burdock plants kept sticking to his clothes and his dog's fur. When studied under a microscope, he noticed that there are hundreds of small 'hooks' on the burrs that can attach to any 'loops', such as clothing and animal hair. Then, he saw a possibility of utilizing the same mechanism for human use. After much studying and prototype, we know have the very familiar Velcro straps that are used in so many applications, from tying shoes to securing our bags.

Biomimetics aside, we believe we must give an introduction to who we are! Our group consist of five Mechanical Engineering students in Taylor's University. Led by the very handsome Sabahan, Wandeh Elwon, the rest of the group is 

Muhammad Akmal, 

Alvin Diong,

Fadhli Hazim 

and Azzam Syafiq.