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TEDxSanDiego 2011 Video – UM Professor Jakki Mohr – How Does Nature Do That?

March 17, 2012 /

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Bear Paw Development Corporation is a private non-profit organization created for the purpose of administering programs to help improve regional economic conditions in Hill, Blaine, Liberty, Chouteau and Phillips Counties and the Fort Belknap and Rocky Boy's Indian Reservations.

For University of Montana Professor Jakki Mohr, the solution to pressing world problems can begin with a simple question: how does nature do that?

Mohr explained how she helps businesses rethink their engineering tool kits to develop innovative, sustainable, eco-friendly products that deliver improved performance. Her presentation included real-world examples. These included wind turbines inspired by the scalloped edge of a humpback whale fin that increased energy production by 20%; buildings in Zimbabwe modeled on the airflow in termite mounds that require 90% less energy for cooling; and a soy-based water-resistant plywood adhesive based on the unique structure of a mussel shell.

Mohr encouraged businesses to "bake biomimicry into their organizational DNA" and rethink their business models from a service-oriented rather than sales-oriented perspective.

Full Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-ynbpE4ivA