A story about Genicap and the Superformula 

Imagine a world where only one formula can make almost everybody’s life a little bit better. My name is Marjola and along with my teammates Sanne and Eva it is an honour to introduce to you: the Superformula.

Look at the Superformula as a tool that can be used by almost everyone in any work field. With the ability to create an infinite number of super shapes the Superformula, also known as the Gielis Formula, has already contributed to fields as education, healthcare, worldwide communication and many more. It also has the ability to create hundreds, and hundreds of jobs.

Do you want to know what the Superformula can do for you? Then please read our story about Genicap and it’s Superformula.

Many years ago Johan Gielis was studying bamboo, as he was fascinated by the structures of nature. Bamboo is a very special material since it is a type of grass, but it is super strong. Also it grows very fast, around a meter a day, which makes it an immensely renewable resource. Gielis was so fascinated about the strength and the shape of the bamboo and thought to himself: if I can describe it in a mathematical model, I can use it in a trillion ways.After that he started to gather many formulas that already existed and tried to create a new one out of it. This took him a few years until that one day: He went through his garden in the morning, with all the formulas in his head, and he looked at this blue flower with five leaves and it struck him. All of the sudden he knew how to do it, he went to write it down and that was it. The start of the Superformula, the start of something big.

The Formula was gratefully received in 2003 and named after Johan Gielis himself. Already 200 papers and 30 theses have been written that are referencing to or using the Gielis Formula, or as many people like to call it: the Superformula.

After that, Genicap comes in. Genicap is a Tilburg-based organisation that is completely build around this Superformula. In simple terms Genicap focuses first of all, on doing more research on natural shapes and their development. Second, they focus on education. The GENICAP INSTITUTE will encourage, support and organize the teaching of pupils from the age of 6 to 18 in various countries. And last but not least, Genicap focuses on building a community around the Superformula. Mixing up the Superformula with stuff that has already been invented and people that can use it, will stimulate new developments. Therefore they are currently developing a community website with Indicia. On this platform, programmers and scientists are brought into contact so that they can learn from each other and work together on new applications. Students can also use the platform to work together and easily get access to the right information. In the end, the more people that know how to use the Superformula, the better!

While building this community, Genicap focuses not necessarily on what the Superformula is and how it was created, but on showing people what it can accomplish. After all, it doesn’t care how a car was built as long as it drives well, right?

Furthermore, in 2010 Genicap won the Social Innovation Award in Tilburg. Many accomplishments have led to winning this award:

Genicap’s Superformula has already proven to be incredibly useful to improve 3D printing by making it possible to discover and model endless universe shapes. This development can eventually be done by the consumer himself.

Genicap has also worked with the Antenna Company, the developer, designer and producer of supershaped, 3D-optimized antennas. Together they created an affordable Smart-Antenna with many new features. In an internet-driven world where connection is key, this was an incredible achievement.  Consequently, the Antenna Company performs considerably better.

Genicap has also enabled a more precise analysis of data gathered from seismic and geological research. Therefore it can play a central role when it comes to the detection, planning and exploitation of reservoirs of oil and gas. As these reserves will still be leading in the global economy, this is a very valuable device.

By using the Superformula in n-dimensional data analysis, a much lower failure rate (1.7%) has shown. This can be applied in various fields like forensic research, marketing, big data analytics and new product development. Genicap has thus improved the method of data mining immensely. Besides that, the Superformula can visualize data, which makes it easier for people to understand the data and make decisions about it.

Another amazing accomplishment by Genicap and it’s Superformula has been their contribution to fighting cancer. The Superformula has found a more precise way to fight cancer that has less collateral damage to the body and a more precisely dosed and effective radiation therapy. Given  the fast that the number of worldwide cancer cases still rises enormously, this is a vey important development.

This is only a handful of accomplishments that have led to Genicap winning the Social Innovation Award. There are so many more things that the Superformula can do for our society. Really, you can get crazy with your imagination about what it can do.

Look at the Superformula as a tool that can be used by almost everyone in any work field. Or maybe as a screw that fits in any machine and makes it work even better. It has already contributed to fields as education, healthcare, worldwide communication and many more. It also has the ability to create hundreds, and hundreds of jobs.

Are you interested in the possibilities of the formula, whether you are in the field of agriculture, fishing, painting, fighting cancer, building submarine ships or searching for stars? Would you like a screw to fix something? Do you think that the Superformula can help you out somewhere? Then get engaged in the Superformula Community! Know that there is a center of expertise here in Tilburg. So if you want to know more, come to Genicap and the Genicap Institute where they help people to get started with The Superformula in their work field with other related research fields and they can help you. Eventually the Superformula will create hundreds of new opportunities and hundreds of jobs. So get engaged, get the Superformula!