A smart joint design inspired by a shore bird's morphing wing structure. (Image by MIT OpenCourseWare.)
Instructor(s)
Prof. Leo Daniel
MIT Course Number
16.982
As Taught In
Spring 2009
Level
Graduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Description
This course is offered for graduate students who are interested in the interdisciplinary study of bio-inspired structures. The intent is to introduce students to newly inspired modern advanced structures and their applications. It aims to link traditional advanced composites to bio-inspired structures and to discuss their generic properties. A link between materials design, strength and structural behavior at different levels (material, element, structural and system levels) is made. For each level, various concepts will be introduced. The importance of structural, dynamic, thermodynamic and kinetic theories related to such processing is highlighted. The pedagogy is based on active learning and a balance of guest lectures and hands-on activities.