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Topology optimization (TO) has been a useful engineering tool over the last decades. The benefits of this optimization method are several, such as the material and cost savings, the design inspiration, and the robustness of the final products. In addition, there are educational benefits. TO is a combination of mathematics, design, statics, and the finite element method (FEM); thus, it can provide an integrative multi-disciplinary knowledge foundation to undergraduate students in engineering. This paper is focused on the educational contributions from TO and identifies effective teaching methods, tools, and exercises that can be used for teaching. The result of this research is the development of an educational framework about TO based on the CDIO (Conceive, Design, Implement, and Operate) Syllabus for CAD engineering studies at universities. TO could be easily adapted for CAD designers in every academic year as an individual course or a module of related engineering courses. Lecturers interested in the introduction of TO to their courses, as well as engineers and students interested in TO in general, could use the findings of this paper.

This paper presents the experienced difficulties of students participating in the multidisciplinary, remote collaborating engineering design course challenge-based innovation at CERN. This is with the aim to identify learning barriers and improve future learning experiences. We statistically analyse the rated differences between distinct design activities, educational background and remote vs. co-located collaboration. The analysis is based on a quantitative and qualitative questionnaire (N = 37). Our analysis found significant ranking differences between remote and co-located activities. This questions whether the remote factor might be a barrier for the originally intended learning goals. Further a correlation between analytical and converging design phases was identified. Hence, future facilitators are suggested to help students in the transition from one design phase to the next rather than only teaching methods in the individual design phases. Finally, we discuss how educators address the identified learning barriers when designing future courses including multidisciplinary or remote collaboration.

This is an introduction to the special issue of California Management Review on Design Thinking (DT). This special issue joins the growing body of work exploring the idea of DT and whether DT makes a difference in terms enhancing or augmenting the impact of technology—and, as a result, innovation—in a positive way. We have chosen an interesting, relevant, and useful array of papers that provide different approaches, views, and interpretations of applied design thinking. These articles provide both management and scholarly readers with insights in how DT is used, as well as its impact and usefulness in a variety of contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topology optimization (TO) is a mathematical method that optimizes the material layout in a pre-defined design domain. Its theoretical background is widely known for macro-, meso-, and microscale levels of a structure. The macroscale TO is now available in the majority of commercial TO software, while only a few software packages offer a mesoscale TO with the design and optimization of lattice structures. However, they still lack a practical simultaneous macro-mesoscale TO. It is not clear to the designers how they can combine and apply TO at different levels. In this paper, a two- scale TO is conducted using the homogenization theory at both the macro- and mesoscale structural levels. In this way, the benefits of the existence and optimization of mesoscale structures were researched. For this reason, as a case study, a commercial example of the known jet engine bracket from General Electric (GE bracket) was used. Different optimization workflows were implemented in order to develop alternative design concepts of the same mass. The design concepts were compared with respect to their weight, strength, and simulation time for the given load cases. In addition, the lightest design concept among them was identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early stages of product development and design, physical prototypes are designed and built from varying materials with the aim of providing valuable experience and decision support for the project team. In the era of digitalization, 3D printing has become a common tool that can produce even complex organic shapes. However, methods for developing the required digital models based on the physical prototypes are still often considered a high investment in resources, reserved for later, converging development activities. In this paper, we close the loop from physical to digital, and back to physical prototyping by introducing a proof-of-concept 3D scanning method using open-source photogrammetry algorithms. The feasibility of the approach is determined from two case studies: a designer chair, and customized race steering wheel. The successful results show potential for low-cost, simple, and accurate digitalization in the early stage of product development and design, with the main challenges being the inherent limitations of photogrammetry and the often-required manual editing of mesh. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Topology and Parametric Optimization are two of the most implemented material optimization approaches. However, it is not clear in the literature which optimization procedure, or possible combination of them, can lead to the best results based on material reduction and optimization time. In this paper, a quantitative comparison of different topology and parametric optimization design processes is conducted using three benchmark examples: A Hollow Plate, an L-Bracket, and a Messerschmitt–Bölkow–Blohm Beam (MBB-Beam). Ten different design processes that were developed in each case study resulted in 30 simulations in total. The design processes were clustered in three main design workflows: The Topology Optimization, the Parametric Optimization, and the Simultaneous Parametric and Topology Optimization. Their results were compared with respect to mass, stress, and time. The Simultaneous Parametric and Topology Optimization approach gave the lightest design solutions without compromising their initial strength but also increased the optimization time. The findings of this paper will help the designers in the pursuit of lightweight structures and will create the basis for the identification of the ideal material optimization procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Additive manufacturing can increase the flexibility in the design phase of product development and that, in its turn, has changed the designer's way of thinking. The design problem has reformulated; from designs that were not possible to be constructed, due to lack of equipment and technology, to constructions that the designer could not think to design. Topology optimization and generative design are useful tools in the hands of designer that can help him/her in the pursuit of the global optimum of a construction and in the choice of an alternative design solution respectively. However, topology optimization results are always depended on the given boundary conditions and restrictions. In other words, the designer's decisions can affect the results of topology optimization and can easily lead to a local and not a global solution. In this paper, an identification and categorization of the most important parameters, that can affect the topology optimization results, were conducted. The main focus of the implemented research was on the pre-processing of topology optimization and especially on the designer's decisions. The applied topology optimization approach here was a simple compliance optimization based on the SIMP interpolation methodology (Solid Isotropic Material with Penalization) and it was executed with the use of the commercial software Tosca (Abaqus). Different alternative designs of a wall bracket were used as a case study to test the sensitivity of the optimization algorithm and quantify the potential loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is a primary goal for designers to create not just high quality designs, but new and innovative designs. The means to promote creative ideation on a consistent basis, and the conditions under which designers create new ideas are not well understood. In this paper we discuss preliminary research on reflective practices used by designers in idea generation. We present a variety of reflective practices used by design students in coming up with new insights and ideas. We offer a clarified definition of reflective practice, derived from Donald Schön's concept of reflection-in-action and prior studies of our own. Lastly, we propose and assess a framework for characterizing reflective practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]