At the Cornell Computational Synthesis Lab we
explore biologically-inspired computational and physical processes that allow
complex high-level systems to arise from low-level building blocks -
automatically. We seek new biological concepts for engineering and new
engineering insights into biology.
The Computational Synthesis Lab comprises researchers from various disciplines
of engineering, computer science, physics, math and biology. We are looking at
self-organization and evolutionary phenomena, and their application both to
engineering design automation and understanding of the emergence of complexity
in natural systems. We are developing both abstract models and applications in
various domains, and build working systems to test new ideas. There are still
many open questions, but if these processes can be understood and harnessed,
this will be the future of engineering. |