Breakthrough discoveries cannot change the world if they do not leave the lab

The Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering uses biological design principles to develop new engineering innovations that will transform medicine and create a more sustainable world.

Inspired by Nature

At the Wyss Institute, we leverage recent insights into how Nature builds, controls and manufactures to develop new engineering innovations - a new field of research we call Biologically Inspired Engineering. By emulating biological principles of self assembly, organization and regulation, we are developing disruptive technology solutions for healthcare, energy, architecture, robotics, and manufacturing, which are translated into commercial products and therapies through formation of new startups and corporate alliances.

Our Translation Model

Through our Innovation Funnel, we harness the creative freedom of academia to generate a pipeline of new ideas and potential breakthrough technologies; enable our staff with product development experience to prototype, mature and de-risk these technologies; and leverage our internal business development team, intellectual property experts, and entrepreneurs-in-residence to drive commercialization, through industrial partnerships, licensing agreements, and the creation of startups.

SkunkworksThere is no greater creative cauldron than the skunkworks of academia. We turbocharge it to fuel our technology pipeline.1/4

Concept ValidationIdeas that pop up spontaneously in our labs are self-selected based on input from our staff with industrial experience and our business development team. Greater resources are provided to those technologies that survive through natural selection.2/4

Technology RefinementTechnologies with the greatest potential value and ability to bring about transformative change are selected to become Institute Projects in order to de-risk them technically and commercially to enable commercialization.3/4

CommercializationOur entrepreneurs-in-residence or members of our business development team reach out to potential investors or industrial partners to develop licensing agreements or catalyze new startups.4/4

Collaboration at a Higher Level

Our scientists, engineers and clinicians, who come from Harvard's Schools of Medicine, Engineering, Arts & Sciences, Design, and Education as well as 12 collaborating academic institutions and hospitals, work alongside staff with industrial experience in product development to engineer transformative solutions to some of the world’s greatest problems.