Introduction to Biotechnologies and Biomimetics for Civil Engineering - Biotechnologies and Biomimetics for Civil Engineering - page 11

other living organisms. This author argues that humans have co-evolved with
nature and that we carry with us our ancient brains and our need to connect with
and affiliate with nature, to be happy and healthy (Beatley and Newman 2013 ).
Recent findings even show that there is a strong correlation between the lack of
green infrastructures in the urban environment and the increase of allergy-related
health problems (Von Hertzen et al. 2011 ; Hanski et al. 2012 ). Besides since
air pollution and higher concentrations of CO 2 -induced increases in levels and
allergenicity of allergenic pollens may contributing to increasing prevalence of
allergic disease and asthma (Haahtela et al. 2013 ). This means that biomimetic
building skins and biophilic cities will be crucial in the near future not only in
terms of public health but also in the mitigation of UHI effects.
Since biotechnology is one of the world's fastest growing industries being one
of the six Key Enabling Technologies-KETs that will be funded under the EU
Framework Programme Horizon 2020 (Pacheco-Torgal 2014 ) this can also foster
the development of start-ups in the field of bio materials and technologies for the
construction industry. This is probably one of the most important advantages of
the association between civil engineering and biotech areas just because civil
engineering is one of the most notorious cases of a desert-like capacity concerning
start-up development. This is a key issue because entrepreneurship is a key skill to
the development of ''start-up businesses, the motor propelling the development of
the new economies'' (Pacheco-Torgal 2004 ). Besides as some defend the second
half of the twentieth century was the time for the scientific engineer while the
twenty-first century will be the time for entrepreneurial engineer (Tryggvason and
Apelian 2006 ; Shi and Vest 2014 ). This entrepreneurial-based civil engineering is
very far from the old and traditional one (Muir-Wood 2012 ), which has persisted
until the twenty-first century and this topic intents to start changing. Besides, hot
areas usually mean more investigation funds and high capability to attract bright
students. The comparison between the impact factor of the journal ''Nature
nanotechnology'' (IF = 31.17) or the journal ''Nature biotechnology'' (IF = 32.4)
with the impact factors of most civil engineering-related journals (usually with an
IF below 1.5) gives some insights about this issue. The importance of high impact
factor journals in civil engineering can be seen in a recent study (Canas-Guerrero
et al. 2013 ) about the research activity on this field that shows that the ''high''
impact factor of the Journal of Hazardous Materials (3.93) is one of reasons for its
great influence over civil engineering researchers. This hardly constitutes a sur-
prise because due to the existent very high number of journals and papers only the
top 10 % will be get read, cited and have an impact (Hamilton 1990 , 1991 ).
However, this also shows the absurd of human actions associated to the production
of enormous amounts of hazardous materials. The aforementioned study also
shows that the average number of citations per paper in the field of civil engi-
neering has been fallen steadily in the last 10 years.
Biotech and biomimetic liaisons can therefore constitute an opportunity to
refresh the civil engineering curriculum in order to reverse its low career attrac-
tiveness and at the same time contribute to a more sustainable civil engineering
industry. This will serve to fulfill ASCE's Vision for Civil Engineering in 2025