Center for Bioengineering & Computational Biology

Logo (click on image to view a larger version):

The logo for Union's Center for Bioengineering and Computational Biology depicts Otto Lilienthal's Storm Wing Model glider (Sturmflügel-Modell, 1894) embedded in the silhouette of a Cooper's Hawk (Accipiter cooperii). Although clearly differing in scale (the hawk has approximately 1:8th the wing span of the glider), the glider and hawk share a similar plan that allows them to remain stable under either high speeds (hawk) or in high winds (glider). Like his predecessors, Lilienthal's designs were inspired by the structure of flying animals. Using nature to guide the design of engineered products has a long history, but has only recently been given the name "biomimetics".