The Porter Bioinspired Lab

The Porter Bioinspired lab is dedicated to studying structures that have been developing over the course of hundreds of millions of years through evolution. A greater understanding of the mechanical and material properties of natural materials and their structures is expected to inform better designs that make more efficient use of available materials to maximize properties such as strength, chemical resistance, or toughness. Current projects focus on the characterization of fungal structures, and the creation of advanced materials that copy fungal structures for heightened performance in engineering applications using advanced manufacturing methods.