It has been my great honour to have witnessed the birth of ISBE and to have done a little to support its growth and success. It’s relevance today is every bit as strong as when it was first conceived. As humanity faces greater and greater challenges, many as a consequence of human activity, then learning from nature not only provides us with elegant engineering solutions – it also helps us to “think for our planet”. As the society has grown it has become more and more influential. It has introduced many young researchers to a highly diverse range of disciplines and has inspired them to study outside of their narrow disciplinary specialism. It has brought together deep thinkers from excellent Universities and Research Institutes around the world. Of course it has also forged especially strong connections between Chinese researchers and those in other locations. Many foreign scientists have visited China for the first time as a result. I wish to congratulate all of the officers and supporters of ISBE but reserve my loudest applause for our great friends in JiDa for their vision in not only launching the society but for their warmth and friendship in sustaining this wonderful community.