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Course Intro | Syllabus
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Center for Axiomatic Design | Christopher A. Brown
PhD, PE
The Center for Axiomatic Design
Chris Brown Draft: 31 March 2006
Background:
Axiomatic design was originally developed by Nam Suh (Honorary D Eng. WPI,
1986) at MIT about thirty years ago (Suh 1990). It has been shown to markedly
improve designs while shortening the design cycle. The axioms are clear,
simple rules that guide the design process to best possible solution for
the desired functions.
Axiomatic design can be applied to the design of products, processes, projects,
and systems. The design axioms provide the opportunity for teaching design
as a science, in that it is based on some simple underlying principles.
We have been teaching axiomatic design at WPI since 1990 (MFE520 Design and
Analysis of Manufacturing Processes), with some success, one student reported
saving his company $2.4 million before the course was over (http://www.wpi.edu/News/Wire/June98/attention.html).
Mission:
The mission of the center is to serve industry and our students by advancing
the teaching, knowledge, and understanding of axiomatic design.
Approach:
Axiomatic Design will be advanced by working through and studying practical
applications. The applications will be solicited from industry. To raise
money and increase industry awareness and interest, seminars and short courses
will be held (e.g., http://www.axiomaticdesign.org/). The intent is that
the project work will be funded by industry for MQPs and graduate research.
The applications will supply case studies to enhance the teaching of axiomatic
design. A special approach to teaching has been developed at WPI (see references
below).
References:
Nam P. Suh (1990) The Principles of Design, Oxford.
Educational papers:
•
E. Odom, S. Beyerlein, C. A. Brown, D.Drew, L.Gallup, S.Zimmerman, J.Olberding, "Role
of Axiomatic Design in Teaching Capstone Courses," Proceedings of the
2005 American Society for Engineering Education Annual conference & Exposition
2005 ASEE, http://www.asee.org/acPapers/2005-1866_Final.pdf.
•
C.A. Brown, "Lessons in Teaching Axiomatic Design to Engineers" SAE
2005 World Congress Detroit April 13 2005, SAE paper SP 1956, Reliability and
Robust Design in Automotive Engineering 2005-01-1523. http://www.sae.org/servlets/productDetail?PROD_CD=2005-01-1523&PROD_TYP=PAPER
•
C.A.Brown, Teaching Axiomatic Design to Engineers: Theory, Applications, and
Software, Looking Forward: Innovations in Manufacturing Engineering Education,
CIMEC (CIRP International Manufacturing Education Conference) 2005 and 3rd
SME International Conference on Manufacturing Education, 2005, pp. 41-51