Biology is a rich source of great ideas that can inspire us to find successful ways to solve the challenging problems in engineering practices including those in the chemical industry. Bio-inspired chemical engineering (BioChE) may be recognized as a significant branch of chemical engineering. It may consist of

but not limited to

the following three aspects: 1) Chemical engineering principles and unit operations in biological systems; 2) Process engineering principles for producing existing or developing new chemical products through living ‘devices'; and 3) Chemical engineering processes and equipment that are designed and constructed through mimicking (does not have to reproduce one hundred percent) the biological systems including their physical-chemical and mechanical structures to deliver uniquely beneficial performances. This may also include the bio-inspired sensors for process monitoring. In this paper

the above aspects are defined and discussed which establishes the scope of BioChE.