The International Conference on Axiomatic Design is scheduled to take place at MIT in Boston in June 2026. More details will be shared here as soon as the dates are finalised.
Category: AD
International Summerschool on Axiomatic Design 2024
The IAAD organises the third International Summerschool on Axiomatic Design from the 16th to the 18th of July 2023.
During the summer school, we will review the fundamental principles of Axiomatic Design (AD), incorporating insights and perspectives from over 30 years of teaching and practice. This content is valuable for both beginners and experienced users.
Participants will learn the latest methods for applying AD, both qualitatively and quantitatively, to select the best design solutions and foster innovation. Developed by Nam Suh at MIT in the late 1970s, AD asserts that all good designs adhere to two axioms: maintaining the independence of functional elements and minimizing information content. AD can enhance value and reduce costs in both designs and the design process. Additionally, participants will learn to use Mirò software for designing complex systems and products.
This tutorial is intended students, PhD students, researchers and design practitioners, who might have never used Axiomatic Design as design theory, or who would like a fresh perspective.
Local timetable can be found here.
ICAD2025 Call for Papers available
We invite you to submit proposals for ICAD2025 at Cardiff University’s Welsh School of Architecture, by organizers Professor Clarice Bleil de Souza, Dr. Camilla Pezzica, and Dr. Marianna Marchesi. Share your innovative research in axiomatic design with a global audience. Submit your papers now and contribute to advancing the field. Don’t miss this opportunity to be part of a prestigious event!
ICAD2025 will be organised at Cardiff University
The next International Conference on Axiomatic Design (ICAD2025) will be held at Cardiff University, specifically within the Welsh School of Architecture. This prestigious event is organised by:
- Professor Clarice Bleil De Souza, a leading expert in decision-making in the built environment
- Dr. Camilla Pezzica, expert in multi-scale and multidimensional urban modelling and analysis in the study of human-space interaction in cities and buildings
- Dr. Marianna Marchesi, expert in the interdisciplinary area of design for sustainability and a circular economy in the built environment
ICAD2025 will bring together researchers, practitioners, and academics to discuss the latest advancements and applications in axiomatic design. Participants will have the opportunity to engage in insightful discussions and presentations, fostering innovation and collaboration. The conference promises to be a significant milestone in the field of Axiomatic Design, contributing to general design and decision-making processes.
15th ICAD in Eindhoven, the Netherlands
May 31st to June 2nd, the 15th ICAD was held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands.
The first day, traditionally reserved for the tutorials, started with a visit to the ‘ASML Experience’; the company that nobody knows but everybody needs. We had an insight how semiconductors were produced and the tremendous difficulties and investments that it requires.
The second day was hard work. The program was full and the level of the presenters was high. Thanks for keynote speakers Bert-Jan Woertman and Rob Brinker for such a good start of the official part of the conference. In the afternoon we had a keynotes from Nam Suh, the briljant mind behind Axiomatic Design, and Petra Foith-Foerster from Bosch who updated us on the novelties of automated (car) manufacturing.
Also thanks to the iconic Evoluon for the great environment and a perfect spot to take our group photo.
In the evening we had to harvest our own food at the 7th edition of ‘Asperges op de Velden’ where we also could see the automated selection and packaging systems for asperges before eating them. Michelin chef Herman Cooijmans pulled out all the stops for a culinary ecstasy.
The third and last day of the conference started with keynotes of Gert-Jan otto about TRIZ where he put us all at work to explore TRIZ and discover the power of the inventive design method. We had hardly recovered when Heinz Stoewer gave an exciting perspective about the past and the future of systems engineering, the stunning experience of a lifetime in 50 minutes.
A few attendants stayed till Saturday for the Clog decoration workshop.
They were long days with presentations and moments to socialize. We were a bit tired at the end, but what a great conference we had.
International Summerschool on Axiomatic Design 2023
The IAAD organises the second International Summerschool on Axiomatic Design from the 11th to the 13th of June 2023. Detailed information can be found here.
Fundamental principles of Axiomatic Design (AD) are reviewed, with insights and perspectives of over 30 years of teaching and practice. This should be of interest to beginners and to all levels of users.
The latest methods for using AD, qualitatively and quantitatively,
for selecting the best design solutions and for fostering innovations are presented. AD, originating with Nam Suh at MIT in the late 1970s, contends that all good designs comply with two axioms: maintaining independence of the functional elements and minimizing information content. AD can add value and reduce costs in designs and in the design process. Participants learn also to use Mirò software
for the design of complex systems and products.
This tutorial is intended students, PhD students, researchers and design practitioners, who might have never used Axiomatic Design as design theory, or who would like a fresh perspective.
ICAD papers will be published with Springer Science+Business Media
The ICAD organisational committee has found Springer Science+Business Media willing to publish the ICAD2023 papers in ‘Lecture Notes in Networks and Systems’. Papers will indexed by SCOPUS and may be dowloaded in the Springer database. Conference attendant will be able to download all papers without restriction for a limited time.
ICAD welcomes Professor Bojan Babic to the Scientific Board
Professor Bojan Babic was welcomed to the scientific board of ICAD. Professor Babic is Head of Production Engineering Department at the faculty of mechanical engineering at the University of Belgrade in Serbia. He has an extensive history in academic research on mechanical engineering as well as Axiomatic Design.
International Summer School on Axiomatic Design
On 19-21 July 2022, the University of Bolzano in cooperation with the International Association for Axiomatic Design (IAAD) organises a summer school on Axiomatic Design. The program can be found at the bottom of this page.
If you would like to join the summer school, please contact:
Dr. Ing. Luca Gualtieri, Ph.D.
Research Fellow
Free University of Bozen · Bolzano
Faculty of Science and Technology
Industrial Engineering & Automation (IEA)
Smart Mini Factory Laboratory
www.smartminifactory.it
Latest updated program:
Tuesday 19 July 2022 – Axiomatic Design and Design of Complex Systems
14:00-14:15 Welcome (Gabriele Arcidiacono, Luca Gualtieri)
14:15-15:00 Lecture 1 – Origins of AD and Axioms (Nam Suh)
15:00-15:45 Lecture 2 – Functional Thinking and Fundamentals of AD (Chris Brown)
15:45-16:00 Break 121211
16:00-16:45 Lecture 3 – Manufacturing System Design Decomposition (David Cochran)
16:45-17:30 Lecture 4 – Collective System Design (David Cochran)
17:30-18:00 Question and Answer
Wednesday 20 July 2022 – Advanced Concepts and Applications of Axiomatic Design
08.00-12.00 Groupwork Part 1 (Problem formulation, From CN to FR and C, Top level FR-DP)
14:00-14:15 Wrap-up Day 1
14:15-15:00 Lecture 5 – Title to be defined (Joe Foley)
15:00-15:45 Lecture 6 – Complexity in Axiomatic Design (Erik Puik)
15:45-16:00 Break
16:00-16:45 Lecture 7 Example of AD application for problem solving (João Fradinho)
16:45-17:30 Lecture 8 – Design of inclusive workplaces in manufacturing (Erwin Rauch)
17:35-18:00 Question and Answer
Thursday 21 July 2022 – Groupwork and presentations
08.00-12.00 Groupwork Part 2 (Decomposition, FR-DP tree, Acclaro software)
14.00-14.45 Groupwork Part 3 (Design representation and power point preparation)
16.00-17.15 Groupwork presentations and discussion
17.15-18.00 Evaluation and Award Winners
Latest AD book: Design Engineering and Science
The most complete book on AD was released in October 2021. In this masterpiece, over thirty experts joined their expertise to gather all relevant knowledge of AD. With almost 700 pages, basics, examples, and calculations for advanced readers this is probably the best book on AD that was ever written.