Bio-inspired design is the practice where the form, function and behaviour of natural entities at different scales used for developing sustainable technologies. During this process, scaling up and miniaturization play an important role. The successful implementation or achievement of bio-inspired features in engineering systems depends on the scale at which the inspiration is taken. Hence the constraint analysis in scale up and miniaturization of bio-inspired design is an important aspect to study. The work take up the mimosa pudica as a bio-inspiration for smart window technology, analyze w.r.t its micro and macroscale design features. Unlike the other works, the macroscale features of mimosa pudica are taken as inspiration and microscale phenomena (Water molecular flow based turgor pressure etc.) are replaced with macroscale viable phenomena (electronics and sensors..). The macro feature inspired smart window is demonstrated with multiple working states. Further, the constraint analysis in the scaling up process of bio-inspired smart window is presented. The analysis indicates the advantages w.r.t accuracy and responding time at the cost of high power consumption and also posts the requirements to achieve the trade-off. This work also emphasizes on the significance of scale based design & constraint analysis, and importance of scale in bio-inspired engineering.

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Systems thinking, design thinking and strategic thinking have been identified as important competencies for future engineers. Many institutions have introduced these subjects into their engineering courses. However, there is need for a deeper appreciation of the underlying assumptions behind these strands of thinking and ways to measure their impact. This paper draws on a four-year experience in implementing systems thinking in a design-centric engineering program in India. It presents the approach adopted and a complexity-based measure to track development in systems thinking competence.

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