A short summary of your project

I'm raising £11000 to cover the costs of my project on insects flight which could potentially improve the flight of man-made flapping robots. Such robots could be used in search and rescue missions in natural disasters.

Who are you?

My name is Ali and I am studying in Germany (Kiel University). I have graduated from my master degree last year, and I'm currently doing my PhD.

Your story

I will study on the wings of dragonflies from an engineering perspective to quantify the wing design and flight style. The project is an innovative, interdisciplinary and application-oriented research.

To reach a better functionality and efficiency in engineering designs, nature sounds a good way to be inspired by. The same concept could be extended to the wings of flying insects. Insect wings have evolved over millions of years of evolution. Their design principles are very different from those of engineered structures. Thus, understanding these principles and utilizing them in an artificial wing can potentially improve the flight of man-made flapping robots.

By supporting us on the project, you could feel awesome next time that you see a man-made flapping robot is finding and rescuing people and other living creatures in natural disasters.

Where will the money go?

• With the minimum of the budget, I will be able to cover the costs of my project, including 2-3 field trips to collect the samples. And to buy consumable materials for the experiments.
• With the full target of the budget, I will be able to cover the costs of video recordings of the species and experiments.
• More than the target of the campaign will help me with the living expenses during the research.
• I will give updates on the progress of the project once a month, so that you see how well I'm working on the project.

Rewards

Any amount of donation, would be very much appreciated. The best pictures of the work are selected and signed to be sent to you as a thanks for your support. And the name of the big donors will be mentioned in the credit and acknowledgement of the work. A signed copy of the work will be sent to them as well.

Help us succeed!

• Please share this project with anyone you think would support us – on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, by email, telephone, in a chat over the fence or on your blog.
• In fact, share it with everyone you know as we think it's a great idea, and the more people who know about it, the more likely we are to make this work out brilliantly.
• And we know we said you don't need to give money to help us, but we'd love it if you did! Please sponsor us and help make this happen.