Nature@Noon: Tough Stuff — Exploring the Material World of Nature

The natural world is filled with materials that are strong but lightweight, that can resist or heal fractures, absorb shocks but not collapse, or bend and not break. These strategies offer a wealth of inspiration for creating new human-made materials.

Join ASU engineering faculty Dhruv Bhate to learn more about how nature combines materials and structures to optimize mechanical performance in everything from honeycombs and luffa seedpods to sea sponges and animal skeletons. Discover how these strategies have inspired material innovation for use on earth – and in space!

Nature@Noon is a series of workshops that explores the collection of ASU’s new NatureMaker library and its potential to inspire sustainable innovation. NatureMaker is a collaboration between the Biomimicry Center and the ASU Library.