From Beaker to Cart: Translating Nature to Product
Mike Taylor | Principal Researcher WorkSpace Futures San Diego Zoo – Bioinspiration Conference 7 November 2013
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Agenda
Chumming the Waters for Innovation When Having Sharks in the Office is a Good Thing… The Impending Shark-nado?
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
“Steelcase’s formula for success – since our first use of thin sheet steel nearly 100 years ago – has always been user insights combined with design and material innovation.
Then, it was about bending metal.
Now, it’s about bending the future – anticipating how work, workers and workspaces will change as material science accelerates.”
Jim Hackett CEO, Steelcase
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
“To create great experiences, where ever work happens.”
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Lean Product Development Challenge
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Product Development Ecology
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Frameworks
Technology Status Organization Status
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Material Science
Materiality
“user defining the object”
“object defining the user”
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
User Centered Research Insights
Material Science Materiality
Technical Feasibility
User Desirability
Business Viability
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Transition from I/Owned to We/Shared
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
How might we improve Well Being through materials in high diversity, shared spaces while maintaining our Sustainability goals?
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Enter Sharklet…
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Material Exploration Map
Bulb
Beaker
Basket
Cart
Find Filter Use Prove
Tech
nolo
gy S
tatu
s
Organizational Status
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Sharklet Film
Sharklet Injection Molding
Can we put microtexture on macrotexture?
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
D’oh…but not our ‘standard’ texture
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Can we make a Sharklet part in a production process?
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Arrgh…stupid physics
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
What about Wear and Tool Life?
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
What about Wear and Tool Life?
0.00
0.50
1.00
1.50
2.00
2.50
3.00
3.50
0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000 9000 10000
Aver
age
Feat
ure
Heig
ht (µ
m)
Total Parts Processed(#)
Micro Pattern Feature Depth on Parts and Tools - Scoop Side
Scoop - Parts Scoop - Tooling
98.08% reduction s. aureus
96.35% reduction s. aureus
Compared with standard part
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Material Exploration Map
Bulb
Beaker
Basket
Cart
Find Filter Use Prove
Tech
nolo
gy S
tatu
s
Organizational Status
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
Sharklet Film
Sharklet Injection Molding
Cleanwell Additives
“Is this best for my company?”
Technical Feasibility
User Desirability
Business Viability
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
So What?
Bioinspiration Accelerators
The ability to image, measure, analyze, and fabricate at smaller scale Ease of cross discipline collaboration Additive manufacturing Data/Algorithms/Complexity
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013
steelcase inc | all rights reserved | Bioinspiration Conference | November 2013