MakeaTUM Bionics Hackathon

For three days, you will learn about nature-based solutions, work with peers from different disciplines and campuses to tackle complex challenges as a team - with bionics. The challenge is open to all fields of study. 

Apply until April 7th!

Successful applicants will be invited to a 1.5h online matchmaking event at 3 p.m. on 18 April.

What is bionics or biomimicry?

Biomimicry is the study of nature's models and systems to solve problems. It seeks sustainable solutions by emulating nature's strategies. This can include looking at the structure, function, and behavior of living organisms, as well as entire ecosystems, to inspire new technologies, products, and designs. 

You can choose the challenge that best fits your interest - and get inspired by nature!

Challenges

• Waste-to-Value

  Natural systems know no waste - everything is a valuable input material to be broken down and reabsorbed in an infinite loop. Although part of this natural system, humans are the only species producing non-digestible waste. Additive manufacturing (AM) offers unique possibilities in bringing the ecological and technological worlds closer together to ultimately move away from a “take-make-waste” economy. Now it is your challenge to find economically viable ways that AM can bring these two worlds closer together in the manufacturing world via novel bio-inspired materials, processes, and products.

   

• Edible Packaging 

  by Dr. Oetker

  Millions of frozen pizzas are produced every day! Even though the PE film that keeps them fresh is recyclable, it would be much better if there were no film at all. What could a waterproof, edible packaging for such a product look like? Find nature-based inspiration to develop a sustainable, edible, and maybe also delicious packaging (film) for moist foods such as pizza. 

   

• Water

  Water is essential for life and shapes ecosystems, cultures, and economies. Alarmingly, it's becoming scarcer due to overuse and the impacts of climate change, affecting agriculture, industry, and everyday human needs. Altered precipitation patterns lead to droughts and floods, calling for new approaches in its management and conversation. Your challenge is to find biomimetic solutions for water filtration, collection, and management.

   

• Fibers 

  Fibers to Value by BayWa

  In the food industry, fibers (pea hulls, pulps...) are produced during the processing of proteins or starches. As the industry grows, there will be a surplus of side streams that will decrease the value chain's value. What else could upcycling of these side streams look like? Are there models in nature that use the main ingredients of the fibers? What technologies could be developed from them? Your challenge is to explore yellow peas' use cases!

   

  Fibers in Textiles

  In textiles and fashion, the need for sustainability and innovation is increasingly pressing. Though functional, traditional manufacturing processes and materials often exact a high environmental toll through water and energy consumption, pollution, and waste. The fashion industry bears a notorious environmental footprint, significantly contributing to global emissions and landfill waste. Your challenge: draw inspiration from biomimicry to develop novel textile and fiber concepts for fashion and industry that advance the sector’s strides towards sustainability.

   

   

• Reinventing the Wheel

  The wheel, a timeless invention, needs a 21st-century update. Modern tires, mostly from non-renewable fossil fuels, bring environmental challenges like resource depletion and pollution. They release microplastics and worsen waste disposal issues. A biomimicry-inspired approach offers sustainable innovation in wheel design and manufacturing. Your challenge: envision the 21st-century biomimicry wheel and a moonshot business model for it.

   

• Open track

  Are you the kind of person who feels a tingling sensation of excitement when staring at a blank piece of paper? Is your favorite rule that there are no rules? Then you're the perfect candidate to apply for the open track, where you and your group of like-minded colour-outside-the-lines pioneers will have no boundaries in what challenge to tackle - you will set it yourselves. Elevate biomimicry to the next level and stare into the abyss until it stares back!