design optimization, prototype construction, programming, modeling & simulation
Please note: This stream will be ending at the end of 2023.
WHAT WE DO
Key Points:
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Design optimization.​
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Design solutions for different design problems, goals, and contexts.
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Exploring alternative design methodologies for a single problem.
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Detailed Description:
Often when a new part or product is designed, precise operating conditions are assumed. The real world, however, is messy, random, and chaotic: manufacturing equipment has errors, human operators err, weather is never quite how we predict, etc. So the designer despairs.
No.
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In this stream, we explore techniques that combine analytical and numerical design methodologies with prototyping and experimentation. Students will learn how to parametrize a design, optimize, prototype, and manufacture while examining the ways that uncertainty and randomness show up.
WHY IT MATTERS
Key Points:
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Design skills are important to nearly all fields and disciplines.​
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Design involves managing uncertainty while exploring all possible options and solutions.
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Efficient and effective design saves time, saves money, and enables solutions to function better and longer.
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Detailed Description:
Design is present in many different fields, particularly engineering, but the concept of making something or making something better to solve a problem is ubiquitous.
In the same way, there is uncertainty in everything we do. Sometimes it can be ignored, and sometimes it can be avoided in a generalized way (e.g. making parts “twice as strong as they need to be”). As we push for greater performance (faster planes, more fuel-efficient cars, lower waste products) uncertainties need to be more carefully identified, studied, and incorporated into the design process minimizing the impact.
WHAT YOU LEARN
Key Points:
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Technological environments such as Matlab, Python.
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Toolboxes previously developed for design optimization problems.
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Physical methods: 3-D printing, laser cutting, manufacturing.
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Detailed Description:
Design parametrization, optimization software, laser cutting, 3-D printing, robust design principles, and uncertainty mitigation.
