Micromobility has the potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, traffic congestion, and air pollution, particularly when replacing private vehicle use in conjunction with public transit for first- and last-mile travel. The design of the built environment in and around public transit stations plays a key role in the integration of public transit and micromobility. This research presents a case study of rail stations in the California Bay Area, which are in the operation zone of seven shared micromobility operators. Nineteen stations and their surroundings were surveyed to inventory design features that could enable or constrain use of micromobility for first- and last-mile access. Shared mobility service characteristics, crime records, and connections to underserved communities were also documented. Key design solutions were identified based on the findings, including protected bike lanes, increased shared bike and scooter fleet size and service area, and clear signage indicating parking corral and docking points.

The objective of this research is to support DfX considerations in the early phases of design. In order to do conduct DfX, designers need access to pertinent downstream knowledge that is keyed to early stage design activities and problem knowledge. Product functionality is one such “key” connection between early understanding of the design problem and component choices which dictate product performance and impact, and repositories of design knowledge are one way to archive such design knowledge. However, curation of design knowledge is often a time-consuming activity requiring expertise in product modeling. In this paper, we explore a method to automate the populating of design repositories to support the overall goal of having up-to-date repositories of product design knowledge. To do this, we mine information from an existing repository to better understand the relationships between the components, functions, and flows of products. The resulting knowledge can be applied to automate functional decompositions once a product's components have been entered and thus reliably provide that “key” between early design activities and the later, component dependent characteristics.

New sensor solutions are under development in the context of digitalization in order to integrate sensory functions into systems. When integrating sensors, the three domains of mechanical, electrical and information engineering must be considered. This results in complex development processes that require suitable procedure models. However, specific procedure models for sensor selection and integration are missing. This contribution proposes a procedure model for sensor selection and integration on the basis of the Munich Procedure Model (MPM) and gives an outlook on open research questions.

Cyber-physical systems (CPS), like autonomous vehicles, are intelligent and networked. The development of such systems and its components requires interdisciplinary cooperation between different stakeholders. A lack of system understanding between stakeholders can lead to unidentified and unresolved security threats & safety hazards in early engineering phases, resulting in high costs in product development and potentially compromises compliance with the safety of CPS.

Model-based systems engineering (MBSE) improves the system understanding between stakeholders by using models.

However, MBSE approaches only partially address security threats & safety hazards. In particular, their integrative consideration is not taken into account.

Established security & safety approaches are either only applicable to specific disciplines or only partially consider security threats & safety hazards.

In the context of this paper we present a method for the resolution of safety relevant security threats in the system architecture design phase using design patterns.

We illustrate our approach with the example of the automotive sector.

Finally, we present an evaluation of the method, based on an 8 week project with 67 master students.

The user has been very well defined over the last decades. With human-centered design becoming more widely applied within various industries, the user's needs are being taken into account more than ever. What is often overlooked is the user's counterpart: the non-user. Integrating the non-user into modern development projects provides great additional value. This paper is compiling current definitions in order to analyse them within the context of product development and to make a contribution toward a comprehensive definition of the non-user that can be applied to various disciplines.

Autonomous driving will not just change vehicles themselves, but also the entire concept of mobility. New business models and the expansion of individual mobility to new groups of society are merely examples of possible impact. In order to create optimal vehicles for new technologies right from the start, vehicle concept optimization helps to find suitable solutions from numerous possible variations. The package as part of a vehicle concept is currently focused on passenger cars with steering wheels and pedals. Therefore, a new method is needed to plan the package of driverless and autonomous vehicles. In this paper, we present a possible method that separates the vehicle into the interior and the front and rear wagon. This way, different seating layouts can be considered and evaluated in terms of package efficiency. In the results, we check the plausibility by rebuilding a current battery electric vehicle (BEV) and, by way of example, show the variation of the gear angle and different seating layouts, and the resulting package efficiency.

Notwithstanding the positive environmental impact of recycled plastics, they are only scarcely used in new designs due to unfamiliarity and lack of material identities. This research aims to touch upon the sensorial attributes that characterise the sustainable perception of recycled plastics. Understanding this would allow to respond to the new trend of sustainable living by offering recycled materials that are successfully perceived as sustainable, and that could support the identity building of each specific recycled plastic material. Three research activities were executed to explore (i) the designerly understanding of sustainable perceived plastics; (ii) the consumer understanding of sensorial material attributes that influence the sustainable perception; (iii) the understanding of these attributes towards recycled plastic materials. Five variables were found that interfere with the perception of the participants: A weaker colour intensity, the use of colourless colours, a rougher texture, a speckled structure and the usage of a matte gloss can give a sustainable look towards a sustainable plastic material. Further research should detail these variables, its limitations and try to make defined guidelines to avoid greenwashing.

Design methods can provide valuable support in structuring and solving complex product design problems. However, the application and the transfer of methods from academia to industry is limited. To date, research has tended to focus on solving this through improved method selection, method adaptation and training. The development of design methods itself has attracted surprisingly low attention. This paper closes this gap and adds a quite new perspective of systematic requirement management of method development. However, the variety of methods, method users and application contexts is a key challenge and does not allow for a universal set of requirements. Thus, this paper transfers the concept of solution-neutral requirements frameworks, which are established in product design, to method development. The framework is derived from analysing and structuring different requirements found in literature. Different requirement sub-/categories allow for accommodating the varying levels of detail of requirements. The framework works like a checklist and helps design researchers to consider the most important requirement categories, which subsequently can be detailed project-specifically.

Generative Adversarial Networks (GANs) have shown stupendous power in generating realistic images to an extend that human eyes are not capable of recognizing them as synthesized. State-of-the-art GAN models are capable of generating realistic and high-quality images, which promise unprecedented opportunities for generating design concepts. Yet, the preliminary experiments reported in this paper shed light on a fundamental limitation of GANs for generative design: lack of novelty and diversity in generated samples. This article conducts a generative design study on a large-scale sneaker dataset based on StyleGAN, a state-of-the-art GAN architecture, to advance the understanding of the performance of these generative models in generating novel and diverse samples (i.e., sneaker images). The findings reveal that although StyleGAN can generate samples with quality and realism, the generated and style-mixed samples highly resemble the training dataset (i.e., existing sneakers). This article aims to provide future research directions and insights for the engineering design community to further realize the untapped potentials of GANs for generative design.

Recent advances in sensing and networking technologies, namely the Internet of Things (IoT), have become key enablers of data-intensive design processes. However, the recent introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) in Europe has raised concerns that the GDPR might hamper data- intensive design processes. In this paper, we map the challenges of enabling ethical and compliant design of product-service systems with personal IoT data. Specifically, we present a 4-year project led by EON, an international energy provider, to design innovative home energy systems that leverage emerging technologies such as solar panels, electric vehicles and home batteries. We present our 6-stage approach to design, centred on IoT data. We highlight the barriers of responsible design with data and identify three novel trust principles for compliant use of personal IoT data in design (private-by-default, analytics transparency and Accountable analytics).

This paper explores the notion of mentored reflective practice to describe design studio pedagogy. Students learn how to design by doing design in the studio. Design critiques are a key element in design studio pedagogy as they capture a moment where students get feedback from their tutors on their designs. The research questions addressed concern the roles of each participant during design studio reviews and their interactions with design representations. The protocol analysis methodology and the Function Behavior Structure ontology are utilized to convey our case study analysis.

While design is fundamental to engineering practice, modern training in engineering design has almost exclusively moved to the classroom, providing students little exposure to holistic, real-world design experiences that are well-integrated with the rest of the academic curriculum. In this paper, we perform a short review of how the model of engineering education in Canada has evolved over the last two centuries, identify the current deficiencies in teaching design in engineering curricula, and review how Chairs in Design Engineering at various Canadian engineering schools have tackled this identified need. We then describe in detail how this problem is being addressed at the University of Waterloo through Engineering Design Days. This approach is presented as a design “lattice” around which other curriculum threads (math, natural sciences, engineering science, design etc.) can grow in an integrated way. Different Design Days examples from various engineering programs are described to illustrate the general structure. We conclude by assessing the program's impact and identifying opportunities for future development and assessment of the program's effectiveness.

Product customization aims to consider individual customers preferences in the design of new products, in order to directly involve them in the product development process and to maximize their satisfaction. It can be considered a key competitive factor and a “hot topic” in several industrial sectors, including luxury apparel goods and high-end footwear products. However, currently the design and manufacturing of customized shoes are carried out through artisanal and non-standardized processes, based on the individual expertise of operators.

The objective of this study is to define an innovative framework to support the different processes affected by customization. This framework is enabled by different digital technologies, as CAD-based tools, virtual/augmented reality systems, etc., opportunely integrated in the product development process. The main benefits related to the framework implementation in real industrial contexts are an increase of flexibility, the repeatability of processes, a higher efficiency in information exchange, a more effective involvement of final customers, and, as a consequence, the reduction of time to market and production costs for tailor-made shoes.

This paper investigates the design and development of bio-inspired suture pins that would reduce the insertion force and thereby reducing the pain in the patients. Inspired by kingfisher's beak and porcupine quills, the conceptual design of the suture pin is developed by using a unique ideation methodology that is proposed in this research. The methodology is named as Domain Integrated Design, which involves in classifying bio-inspired structures into various domains. There is little work done on such bio-inspired multifunctional aspect. In this research we have categorized the vast biological functionalities into domains namely, cellular structures, shapes, cross-sections, and surfaces. Multi-functional bio-inspired structures are designed by combining different domains. In this research, the hypothesis is verified by simulating the total deformation of tissue and the needle at the moment of puncture. The results show that the bio-inspired suture pin has a low deformation on the tissue at higher velocities at the puncture point and low deformation in its own structure when an axial force (reaction force) is applied to its tip. This makes the design stiff and thus require less force of insertion.

Whilst Concurrent Conceptual Design (CCD) has been performed for many years at facilities such as: the Concurrent Design Facility at ESA and the Project Design Center at JPL-NASA, the sequencing know-how resides in their communities of practice. This paper strives to explain how a sequencing algorithm based on Design Structure Matrices can be used as an instrument to facilitate the interaction between disciplines during CCD studies for Model-Based systems exemplified with two case studies.

In recent years design has had a renaissance in business and management research and practice. Several authors have discussed if management is a design practice and how far design ought to go to design behaviors. This article discusses, evaluates and explores organizational design as a human-centered design practice. Relevant theoretical concepts of organizational theory, design approaches and practices are discussed to evaluate gaps in management practices and potential opportunities for design practice. The study collected and analyzed data from two organizations. The researched revealed several propositions, which provide insights of the usefulness, appropriateness and value of a human-centered design practice to organizational design.

This paper investigates which activities and success factors can be identified for the data-driven validation of functional requirements. For this purpose, a case study is conducted at a machine tool manufacturer. To validate functional requirements by analyzing data of reference products, these activities must be performed iteratively: basic work, interdisciplinary work, programming and check results. For the successful execution of data-driven validation, the success factors: data origin, acceptance, data quality, knowledge about data and combination of domain knowledge must be considered.

Requirements engineering and requirements management are essential sub-processes of product development and are an integrated part of virtually all product development models and industrial process descriptions. Proprietary and context specific processes for working with requirements are used in industrial design practice. However, these are not appropriately reflected in existing process models for product development. Existing standards describe the content and generation of requirements documents but not their integration in the product development process.

The study is based on a retrospective analysis of a set of representative real-world product development projects from automotive industry and rail industry. Comparing the processes downstream the milestone “release of PRD”, it was found that subsequent processes to manage requirements and specifications do not differ much with regard to industrial context. Based on this, a model for the product requirements specification (PRS) process is proposed which addresses the gap.

Sketch2Prototype is an AI-based framework that transforms a hand-drawn sketch into a diverse set of 2D images and 3D prototypes through sketch-to-text, text-to-image, and image-to-3D stages. This framework, shown across various sketches, rapidly generates text, image, and 3D modalities for enhanced early-stage design exploration. We show that using text as an intermediate modality outperforms direct sketch-to-3D baselines for generating diverse and manufacturable 3D models. We find limitations in current image-to-3D techniques, while noting the value of the text modality for user-feedback.

Generating novel design concepts is a cornerstone for producing innovative products. Although many methods have been proposed for supporting the task, their performance depends on human ability. The goal of this research is to build a method supporting designers to generate novel design concepts with the knowledge of what factors have positive effects on the novelty. Toward the goal, this research assumes that the more distant two function concepts chosen, the more novel idea would come up with by the combination of the two concepts. Based on the assumption, this paper introduces a notion of novelty potential of the combination of two function concepts, and proposes a method to assess it by the function similarity. It is calculated with the integration of a lexical database for natural language called WordNet and a distributional semantics method called word2vec. The proposed method is adapted to case studies in which students perform design concept generation for given design tasks. The correlation analysis is performed to verify the assessment performance of the proposed method. This paper discusses its possibility based on the results of the case studies.