The NASA Virtual Interchange for Nature-inspired Exploration (V.I.N.E.) is intended to be a sustainable, cross-geographical, 24×7 online workspace. With nature-inspired exploration as its driving philosophy, V.I.N.E seeks to solve NASA’s biggest challenges, with the help of subject matter experts from academia, industry, and other government agencies.
I serve as the Co-Catalyst for the Systemology Cluster with Curt McNamara. The following describe the cluster work.
Cluster Goal: Establishing standards of practice for nature-inspired design
Cluster Objectives:
- Identify and characterize available tools and methods for nature-inspired design/thought/activity
- Identify basis for different schools of thought by analyzing the commonalities/differences
- Identify a general set of problem solving steps and associated tools to solve an engineering problem that is agnostic to design philosophy
- Identify the ways to manage systems engineering through natural principles
The cluster is comprised of people from industry and academia with a variety of backgrounds: Engineering design, Mechanical engineering, Electrical engineering, Systems engineering, Systems science, and Biology.
Activities we have or are working on:
- Tools and methods survey and characterization
- Industry interviews to understand industry needs and experiences
- Testing tools and methods with industry partners
- Creation of a DfBiom* set of guidelines
- Co-leading sessions with INCOSE Natural Systems Working Group