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Function-Based (FB) representations of complex systems play an important role in Biologically Inspired Design (BID) by easing the knowledge interchange among biologists, engineers and designers. Many representations have been proposed by scholars over the years, but none of them has ever become a clear favorite. As a matter of fact, each model represents the system from a distinctive perspective. This paper explores the effects of these different representations as creative stimuli for students in order to obtain recommendations for fostering innovation in education and training practices. After introducing a selection of FB models for BID, the paper describes an experiment designed to allow a quantitative comparison of the outcomes of a BID design challenge among undergraduate students attending a course on methods and tools for conceptual design. An analysis of the results of the experiment is followed by the authors' reflection on directions for educational development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Designers usually spend non-negligible efforts in performing comprehensive design space explorations, but important information exchanged in conceptual design sessions is often lost, even about the rationale behind the preferred solutions. As a part of a broader investigation concerning the impact of knowledge coming from previously performed design tasks, this paper describes an experiment aimed at assessing the impact on the design outcomes of two representations used to share existing design information. In particular, the authors compared a function structure, together with a morphological chart, against a hierarchically organized tree of problems and solutions. The design experiment has been performed with a sample composed by 35 engineering students, which have been opportunely subdivided in three groups. The experiment has been structured in three phases and the acknowledged literature metrics for assessing idea generation effectiveness have been applied to assess the design outcomes produced by students. Obtained results show that providing information with the two investigated representations leads to potential advantages in terms of Variety of devised concepts. Moreover, additional analysis of the results highlight that the considered representations lead to different idea-generation paths. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Design education is a highly debated topic since decades, yet the focus on multi-disciplinary classes has gained a paramount importance due to the multi-disciplinary nature of today's global challenges. This paper contributes to the discussion through the description of the Design Methods and Processes course at Alta Scuola Politecnica, an original educational experience jointly developed by Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino with a highly selected number of MS students from Architecture, Industrial Design and all branches of Engineering. After positioning this discussion with respect to the relevant literature, the paper describes the educational model of this course and the reflections made after 5 years of implementation. Students show to catch the essence of the design workflow thanks to the educational path structured as a problem-analysis-and-solving process. However, dealing with multi-disciplinary task demands a careful composition of students' teams since it can positively/negatively affect the learning experience as well as students' motivations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As technical systems become more interconnected and the speed of innovation increases, the importance of engineering changes is on the rise. Several research works addressed how to increase the easiness of change in technical systems, but until a common terminology is established, ambiguity prevents an effective communication of knowledge and an adequate comparison of best practices. This paper reviews the literature on change-related lifecycle properties (the "Ilities") and proposes a unified vocabulary. Nine frameworks about change-related Ilities are analyzed in details; then, the main properties of engineering changes are highlighted. Finally, the article rearranges the content of the nine frameworks according to the engineering change properties and presents a method to identify unambiguously change lifecycle properties based on a distinction between key change features and secondary change features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper a 9-step method is proposed to study the evolution of technical systems. Merging the potential of TRIZ and patent analysis, a structured approach is defined to properly analyse the state of the art of a technology and retrieve useful insights to identify and structure new development strategies. Past-present evolutionary dynamics are quantitatively described, while indications for new possible development scenarios can be also extrapolated. Starting from a detailed breakdown of the technology under analysis, a list of evaluation parameters is defined to classify inventions and thus monitor the technology advancements by means of the TRIZ Laws of Engineering Systems Evolution. The aim of this study is to foster the diffusion of more reliable and systematic approaches to innovation especially in those industrial sectors where high risks and investment costs tend to favour short-term technological advances rather than long-term ones. Two case studies were developed within the context of the mining industry. Specifically, the study is part of a research project founded by the Chilean Economic Development Agency (CORFO) whose objective is to support companies of the Atacama region, in the identification of new technological opportunities to renew their production process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]