MEEN 601: Advanced Product

Design (Spring 2022)

Week 1 - Lecture 1: Introduction, Course Overview , Engineering Design Problems

MEEN 601 – Advanced Product Design 1

 MEEN 601 Instructional Team
Instructor
Dr. Richard Malak
Associate Professor, J. Mike Walker ‘66 Department of Mechanical Engineering
rmalak@tamu.edu

Teaching Assistant
Mr. Brad Mazoch
J. Mike Walker ‘66 Department of Mechanical Engineering
bhzock@tamu.edu
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MEEN 601 – Advanced Product Design 2

 Dr. Richard Malak
A Little about Me Associate Professor
J. Mike Walker ‘66 Department of
Mechanical Engineering

• Research interests: Computational methods (including optimization, machine learning, AI) for
supporting engineering systems design; decision making in systems engineering; design and
systems engineering theory; applications to materials design, smart structures, and complex
engineered systems.
• Teaching: Design, systems engineering, numerical methods, machine learning

2016-2019:
• On leave from Texas A&M to serve as Program Director, Engineering Design and Systems
Engineering (EDSE) Program @ US National Science Foundation
• Oversaw portfolio of fundamental research on theory and methods for supporting engineering
design and systems engineering activities (i.e., things we talk about in MEEN 601 and other
design courses)

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 Today
Objectives:
• Introduce and motivate the study of design as a subject matter
• Introduce the aims of MEEN 601: Advanced Product Design
• Explain course mechanics (assignments, grading, policies, etc.)

New Ideas: You should be able to:

• Design as a technical subject matter • Define terms: design, analysis
• Design in contrast with analysis • Determine whether to keep showing up!
• How the course works

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 But first…design me something
Design a means to keep beverages cool in a parked car

• Take a couple minutes

• You may work alone or in small groups
• Do whatever is necessary to address this problem

MEEN 601 – Advanced Product Design 5

 But first…design me something
Design a means to keep beverages cool in a parked car

• Take a couple minutes

• You may work alone or in small groups
• Do whatever is necessary to address this problem

• What was your design solution?

• What was your design process?

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 Advanced? Product? Design?
A word by word analysis

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 Advanced Product Design
Everyone designs who devises courses of action aimed at changing existing Historical Designs
situations into preferred ones.
- Herbert Simon, The Sciences of the Artificial
Engineering One of the
Product oldest human
endeavors
Industrial
Archimedes screw
Architecture
Design disciplines
(simply check Process
Wikipedia out)
Service

Electronic

Software
Cam Hammer Ball bearing
(Da Vinci) (Da Vinci)
http://www.leonardodavincisinventions.com/
The list is quite long… Wikipedia (Archimedes)

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 Advanced Product Design
Design vs. Analysis: some refer to design as an “inverse problem”
“Forward Problem”
Find the behavior of the system
System Dynamics Analysis Usability Analysis

System
Aerodynamic Analysis Structural Analysis Attributes

“System”

“Reverse” or “Inverse” Problem

Find a system with the desired behavior
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 Analogy: Designing, Analyzing and Manufacturing a Meal

Follow a recipe to combine, treat and assemble the

Manufacturing ingredients

Analyzing Taste, view, smell, feel, hear…

Given info about what you want or need to eat, create a
Designing recipe for a dish or dishes that will be satisfactory

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 An Engineering Example: Passenger Aircraft

Manufacturing Follow technical drawings to fabricate and assemble the plane

Analyzing Determine range, stall speed, lift capacity, seating capacity,…
Given info about the needs for a passenger aircraft (desired
Designing range, capacity, cost, etc.), create a detailed design definition,
including drawings, assembly diagrams, etc.

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 Advanced Product Design
• A physical artifact to be used by
someone (?!?)
• Typical context is artifact to be sold
for profit, but this does not have to
be the case (could be given away,
made for internal purposes, etc.)

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 Advanced Product Design
• Pertains to “design” not “product”

• We will go beyond what you learned about design in your capstone

course

• More emphasis on (foundations and limitations of) methods

• High value placed on critical thinking

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 Most of your engineering courses focus on one or both of the following:

Analysis Knowledge: Domain-specific Design Knowledge:

Principles and methods for determining Rules and relationships (often approximate or
the properties, behavior, performance of a heuristic) for designing particular types of systems in
particular system in a particular situation. particular situations that already are well structured.
Examples: Examples:
• Solid mechanics • Design codes
• System dynamics • Part sizing guidelines
• Fluid dynamics • Empirically-determined correction factors (e.g.,
• … in machine design)
• …
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MEEN 601 is about domain-independent design knowledge—principles, methods and
processes that are general and can be adapted to specific design contexts (application
area, organization, etc.) and useful for unstructured & “wicked” problems.

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 Alone, this course will not make you into a great designer.

You still need domain expertise to go with your

knowledge of design methodology.

Better view: this course will help you wield your domain
knowledge more effectively.

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 Course Structure
Topics, Evaluation, Expectations, Potential Modifications

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 Overarching Philosophy

• Systematic Methodology • Creativity & Innovation

• Models for design practice • Design Thinking
• Formal Underpinnings • Business & Society
• Generalizations • Anecdotal

https://www.healthline.com/health/left-brain-vs-right-brain#left-brainright-brain-theory

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 Course Topics
Core • Major phases of a design project
Methodology & • Needs analysis & project planning Includes both
Fundamentals • Formulating design objectives conventions and
• Formulating design requirements scientifically-founded
• Functional modeling approaches
• Idea generation methods for conceptual design
• Decision methods: rigorous and non-rigorous
• Trade-space analysis / design exploration
Advanced Specific topics TBD and may include: Potential Special Topics:
Methodology • Product families and platforms • Activity based design
• Flexibility, modularity and upgradability • Generative Design
• Technology Evolution • AI in Design
• Impact of new technologies (e.g., 3D printing)

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 29 Nov, 1 Dec & 6 Dec : Final Presentations

Course Calendar
25-Aug Introduction, Design Problems, Course Overview
30-Aug Design Methodology Phase 1: Opportunity & Scenario Identification
1-Sep Product Planning, Design Thinking
6-Sep Needs, Product-Opportunity Gap
8-Sep Tools for Needs Gathering Phase 2: Value Opportunity Analysis
13-Sep Objectives and Requirements
15-Sep Quality Function Deployment
20-Sep Problem Decomposition using Functional Modeling
22-Sep Functional Modeling Continued Phase 3: Understanding the Opportunity
27-Sep Function Basis, Concept Generation Techniques
29-Sep C-Sketch Activity, Sources of Design Inspiration
4-Oct Concept Generation Through TRIZ/TIPS
6-Oct Concept Generation Through Morphological Matrix
11-Oct Fall Break – No Classes
13-Oct Concept Selection and Intro to Decision Making
18-Oct Rating Matrices for Decision Making Phase 4: Conceptualization, Design Visualization & Selection
20-Oct Voting Schemes
25-Oct Perspective Sketching (Cubes)
27-Oct Perspective Sketching (Complex Shapes)
1-Nov Design Visualization
3-Nov Embodiment Design, Models in Product Development
8-Nov Prototypes as Experience, Product Architecture
10-Nov Risk Assessment, FMEA, DFX
15-Nov Pareto Dominance and Trade Studies Phase 5: Embodiment, Detail, Abstract Prototyping
17-Nov Decision Theory
22-Nov Tradeoffs under Certainty
24-Nov Design Methodology and Design Research

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 Course Outcomes (Terminal Behaviors)
• Understand the role of a given task in the context of an overall design
methodology or design process model.
• Conduct a thorough needs analysis for a design project.
• Create and interpret abstract representations (functional models, process
models, activity diagrams) commonly used to understand a design problem.
• Create and interpret requirements for a design project.
• Identify design concepts or embodiments using idea generation methods.
• Apply systematic decision methods to make design decisions (e.g., concept
selection).
• Interpret and critique proposed design methods or design process models.
• Develop a healthy relationship with ambiguity [no way to evaluate this!]

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 Source Material
• No required text
• Lecture slides and supplemental material will be posted
on Canvas

• Texts used when developing lectures:

• G. Pahl & W. Beitz, Engineering Design: A Systematic
Approach. Springer. 2nd Ed. 1995.
• K. Otto & K. Wood, Product Design. Pearson. 2001.
• G.A. Hazelrigg, Fundamentals of Decision Making for
Engineering Design and Systems Engineering. 2012.
• R.T. Clemen & T. Reilly, Making Hard Decisions. Brooks/Cole.
2001.

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 Grade Distribution & Evaluation
In-class Activities 5% Grade Range
A >= 90% <= 100%

B >= 80% < 90%

C >= 60% < 80%

Team
Project D >= 50% < 60%
60%
Homework F >= 00% < 50%
35%

As you can see, this is a project heavy

course!

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 Design Project
• Use systematic methodology to design an engineered product
• Take from opportunity to problem to product plan through concept
selection and finally an abstract prototype
• Physical prototype highly encouraged but not required
• Team project (3-4 members per team)
• Project selection considerations:
• Topic up to your team (subject to instructor approval, to ensure reasonable scope)
• Can be based on an actual product idea you have, your research project, or anything
else that is of interest to you
• Must have an engineering aspect
• Grading driven by successful application of systematic design methodology, not
market viability of product

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 Design Project: Review Meetings
• We will arrange approx. 30 min sessions twice during the semester
with each team and provide feedback
• The meeting will also be used for grading purposes

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 Types of projects
• A Physical Engineered Product [safe]
• The default option (you may find a problem from your research)
• Typical Outcome: An digital prototype (CAD, analysis etc)

• A Process or Service Relevant to Mechanical Engineering

[experimental]
• Very likely not going to be physical
• Typical Outcome: A model (process, workflow, simulation etc)

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 Rough Project Logistics
• Each team will create a “Design Notebook” on Google Drive (must use
your TAMU ID to login)
• Project Milestones [full details will follow]:
• Proposal [Needs-Opportunity]
• Concept Generation
• Engineering Requirements
• Prototyping (digital/abstract)
• Deliverable: Project Guidelines
• Design Notebook will be uploaded on
• Design data (CAD, Simulation etc as relevant) Canvas in week 02.
• Presentation

MEEN 601 – Advanced Product Design 26

 Remote Collaboration
You are likely to interact with other students remotely in this class.

There are numerous technologies out there to support this, many of

which are free or are no cost to you if enrolled at A&M.

Things you may need:

• File sharing: Google Drive, Dropbox, eLearning, others
• Messaging: Slack, good ol’ fashioned txt, others
• Voice and/or video Conferencing: Zoom, Teams, Skype, others

Note: I am not endorsing any of these. This is just for your information. Use at own
risk. I have not personally tried everything listed. Some have compatibility issues
with particular browsers.

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 Late Submissions
• Project
• No late submissions allowed.

• Home Assignments:
• 10% of the grade will be deducted every 24 hours

• In-Class Activity Submissions for face-to-face

students:
• 5% of the assignment score will be deducted if
submitted after end of class and before the end of day Exceptions: University-
(midnight). approved Absence . See
• No points if submitted after the end of day student rule 7

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 Academic Misconduct
You are going to work in teams
so there will be lots of
collaboration
If you are not sure about
something, come talk to me!
MEEN 601 – Advanced Product Design
Some things you must not do:
• Plagiarize text
• Use figures without attribution
• Present the work of others as your
own in any way
• Submit work in this class that you
submitted for a grade in another class
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 Questions?

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 Let’s talk about Design!
Mostly about what design probably is (or could be, or should be, or is not and
everything in between!)

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 But first…why do we care at all?

https://xkcd.com/1741/

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 Examples of Design Problems?
• Increase efficiency of a car
• Decreasing the time to get to campus
• Moving something heavy
• Make a pencil more comfortable to use
• Design a faster computer
• Cross a body of water
• Reliable shipping system
• Reduce emission (sustainable power)

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 The Classic Design Problem
• What is this product?
• What is the function of this product?
• What need does this product cater to?
Historically speaking:

• An article of state and dignity rather than an article of

ordinary use.

• Still extensively used as the emblem of authority in

the British House of Commons and in public meetings.

• It was not, in fact, until the 16th century that it became

common anywhere.
[Wikipedia]

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 The Classic Design Problem
• What is this product?
• What is the function of this product?
• What need does this product cater to?
In modern times, Chair design
considers:

• Intended usage (the desired seating position)

• Ergonomics (how comfortable it is for the occupant)
• Non-ergonomic functional requirements (size,
stacking ability, folding ability, weight, durability, stain
resistance, and artistic design) [Wikipedia]

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 Characteristics of an Engg. Design Problem
Design mechanical gearing that has a Looks like a “design problem” from
speed ratio of 1.75:1 and can handle an undergrad class…
loads up to 1500 Nm at speeds up to But this is a very narrow view of
10,000 rpm. design

Design a means for removing plastic waste from our

Engineering design problems are often: oceans
• Ambiguous
• Open-ended Design a system for transporting humans and their
belongings from one planet to another
• Subjective
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• Have more than one viable solution Design a chair that reduces back fatigue and is
• Could be impossible pleasing to the user
• Involve incomplete information Design a means for monitoring an individual’s health
over time
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