Engineering inspired by Nature
and�The mantis Shrimp �
“It's World Oceans Day” Slides Template from SlidesGo
Module Created by Ezra Sarmiento for UCI Outreach (2024)
By the end of this module students will be able to:
But first… who am I?
���
The Graduate Student Association is made up of students that are excited to conduct, connect, and share the research they are doing both within the UCI campus and the surrounding community.
The Kisailus Biomimetics and Nanostructured Materials Lab at UC Irvine is a multidisciplinary research group that leverages blueprints from biological structures and their synthesis pathways to develop advanced multifunctional materials.
Who do I work for?
Biomimetic and Nanostructured Materials Lab
MSE Graduate Student Association
Advancing Bioinspiration through Creative Development in Education
A coalition of graduate students and educators (like your teachers!) that are working towards creating lessons based on biological species like the ones you’ll see today!
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Science
Technology
Engineering
Math
What is STEM?
Science
Technology
Engineering
Math
Pictures of kids loving math! :-)
To switch with the picture on the previous slide.
Today’s topic: biomimetics!
Full Definition:
Studying designs found in nature and and using them in our technology!
bio-
as in Biology, or the science of life/nature
-mimetics
or mimicry, as in copying or imitating
STEM jobs related to topic
Biologist�The ones who work in nature and make observations about different organisms.
Environmental Engineer/Scientist�The ones that try to make meaningful changes in the way we design products and processes in order to curb environmental impacts. Saving nature!
Mechanical Engineer�The ones that may build machines based on designs found in nature.
Materials Scientist/Engineer�The ones that mimic processes from nature and attempt to adapt them in advanced engineering applications and designs.
Let’s take
a look into biology!
What’s similar in these 2 pictures?
Talk to a partner for 1 minute!
Survival of the fittest
“Organisms that best adapt to their environment are the most successful in surviving and reproducing.”
Strongest, fastest, toughest, smartest survive.
Humans!
Without adapting, a species may die out and become extinct.
Survival of the fittest
Same trait, different species!
Introducing peacock mantis shrimp
Introducing peacock mantis shrimp
Shrimp smash !!!
Mantis Shrimp can punch with the speed of a bullet! (~100,000 m/s2)
Shrimp adaptation
Mantis shrimp vs crab
mantis Shrimp fists
Questions to ask:
Cut
What is an
Element?
Elements! And the periodic table
How do our bones form?
What’s different in shrimp ”bone”?
Shrimp exoskeletons are �made of a layered, �composite material.
This composite material is still made of calcium!
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/mar/06/charles-barkley-calls-athletes-who-wont-visit-trumps-white-house-stupid-i-disagree
What is a composite?
What is a Composite?
Together, they can be as tough as metals while being lighter and retaining the superior heat-handling characteristics of glass.
Material used in the Boeing 787
Carbon Fiber
Fiberglass
Composites are materials that are made of two or more materials!
REsEarch focus: biomimetic composites!
Fiberglass
College-Level UCI Research:
Applying a small pitch angle (3-5°) within a fiberglass layup decreases the propagation of cracks by 50%. The subsequent material strength is also increased by 20%.
�The crack-tip stress loses energy at each interface, resulting in crack deflection.
…in other words:
Making use of multiple twisting layers makes it harder to a material to break and increases its overall strength!
Changing the direction of a crack at each layer results in reduction of force = no catastrophic failure
There is an engineering relationship between processing, microstructure, and performance of composite materials.
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biomimetic composites!
Research focus: biomimetic composites!
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Research Focus: Materials testing
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Let’s check out the shrimp!
Today’s activity:
Paper shields
Composites through Biomimicry!
Tesselations
Tessellations can be found in many areas of life.
Art, architecture, hobbies, and many other areas
What shapes are strongest?
paper shields (composites)
Materials Needed
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Step 1:
Step 2:
Draw and cut out 2 outlines of your “shield” with a marker
In between your shield outline, lay down dots of glue in one direction
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Step 3:
Wait for glue to dry!
Lay out pasta on the glue lines that were drawn
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Step 4:
Done!
Glue all your sheets together, alternating the rotation of your pasta-paper layers.
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A question in Physics: What is a force?
What is a force?
A force is a push or pull that comes as a result of objects acting on one another.
Sir Isaac Newton developed 3 laws that dictate or describe how forces can come about.
Newton’s 3rd law of motion
Every applied force will have an equal, but opposite force.
Shrimp punches are able to deflect force applied back to them by utilizing the helicoidal composite matrix.
How can we reduce forces?
How can our composites reduce forces?
Pasta absorbs the impact which protects the paper!
STEM jobs that deal with biomimetics
Biologist�The ones who work in nature and make observations about different organisms.
Environmental Engineer/Scientist�The ones that try to make meaningful changes in the way we design products and processes in order to curb environmental impacts. Saving nature!
Mechanical Engineer�The ones that may build machines based on designs found in nature.
Materials Scientist/Engineer�The ones that mimic processes from nature and attempt to adapt them in advanced engineering applications and designs.
Quiz time!
Review questions!
What is survival of the fittest?
Give an example (other than the mantis shrimp).
Review questions!
What is it called when every single organism of a species dies?
What are changes of individuals of a species that allow for better survival called?
Review questions!
What is the main element present in the clubs of mantis shrimp?
How fast does a mantis shrimp punch?
Review questions!
What is force?
What are some valid ways to dissipate (reduce) force?
Thank you �for listening!
https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2025/mar/06/charles-barkley-calls-athletes-who-wont-visit-trumps-white-house-stupid-i-disagree
Learning Outcomes: Structure and Properties of Matter
Structure and Properties of Matter
Students will be able to demonstrate an understanding of how each pure substance has characteristic physical and chemical properties (for any bulk quantity under given conditions) that can be used to identify it. (MS-PS1-3)��Chemical Reactions
Students will be able to explain how substances react chemically in characteristic ways. In a chemical process, the atoms that make up the original substances are regrouped into different molecules, and these new substances have different properties from those of the reactants. (MS-PS1-3)
Structure and Function
Students will be able to identify how structures can be designed to serve particular functions by taking into account properties of different materials, and how materials can be shaped and used. (MS-PS1-3)
Learning Outcomes: Forces and Interactions
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Students will be able to apply scientific ideas or principles to design an object, tool, process or system. (MS-PS2-1)
Forces and Motion
Students will be able to understand and demonstrate that for any pair of interacting objects, the force exerted by the first object on the second object is equal in strength to the force that the second object exerts on the first, but in the opposite direction (Newton’s third law). (MS-PS2-1)
Influence of Science, Engineering, and Technology on Society and the Natural World
Students will be able to understand that the uses of technologies and any limitations on their use are driven by individual or societal needs, desires, and values; by the findings of scientific research; and by differences in such factors as climate, natural resources, and economic conditions. (MS-PS2-1)
Learning Outcomes: Natural Selection and Adaptations
Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
Students will be able to apply scientific ideas to construct an explanation for real-world phenomena, examples, or events. (MS-LS4-2)
Patterns
Students will develop and understanding about how patterns can be used to identify cause-and-effect relationships. (MS-LS4-2)
Evidence of Common Ancestry and Diversity
Students will be able to identify anatomical similarities and differences between various organisms living today and compare them with organisms in the fossil record. This will enable the reconstruction of evolutionary history and the inference of lines of evolutionary descent. (MS-LS4-2)