Study of nature's solutions to specific problems with the aim of determining appropriate engineering analogs. Morphology, scaling, and design in organisms applied to engineering structures. Mechanical principles in nature and their application to engineering devices. Mechanical behavior of biological materials as governed by underlying microstructure, with the potential for synthesis into engineered materials. Trade-offs between redundancy and efficiency. Students will work in teams on projects where they will take examples of designs, concepts, and models from biology and determine their potential in specific engineering applications.