Biomimicry is when inventors, engineers or researches look towards nature and the natural world for inspiration in developing new technologies. The hope is that the careful examination of the processes and behavior in nature will help us to go from concept to commercialization in a better, faster and cheaper way. With this view in mind the NYSERDA has begun to promote this approach to R & D among the cadre of inventors working today in New York.
Just as the Wright Brothers studied the flight of birds intensely before embarking on their journey to develop human flight, so too today’s inventors are being encouraged to continue to look at nature for the clues in developing new technologies. NYSERDA’s goal is to help New York progress towards an “innovation economy” in which entrepreneurs can create innovative firms which will become an economic development force.