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The Design Decisions Laboratory
develops tools and methods to understand and assist decision-making in the
design process. Current thrust areas include
1.
systems
optimization,
2.
design for
market systems, and
3.
green design
& environmental policy.
 Research
Summary
Systems Optimization
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The design and optimization of complex systems pose unique challenges:
Subsystems and components must be designed such that they are compatible
and consistent with one another while delivering properties that, in
combination, achieve targets for the overall system. DDL develops
mathematical tools for decomposing complex design tasks into smaller
subsystem design tasks and coordinating design of these subsystems to
achieve optimal system solutions.
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Sample Publications:
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Khajavirad, A. and J.J. Michalek (2008) "A decomposed approach
for solving the joint product family platform selection and design
problem with generalized commonality," ASME Journal of Mechanical Design v130 p071101.
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Li, Y., Z. Lu and J.J. Michalek (2008) "Diagonal quadratic approximation for
parallelization of analytical target cascading", ASME Journal of Mechanical Design
v130 n5 p051402.
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Michalek, J.J. and P.Y. Papalambros (2005) "An efficient
weighting update method to achieve acceptable consistency deviation in
analytical target cascading," ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, v127 p206-214.
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Design for Market Systems
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Whether interested in profit or in social welfare, designers are
concerned with the preferences people have and the choices they make.
Design decisions are driven by the preferences of various stakeholders,
and the decisions made by designers have impact on these stakeholders.
DDL develops quantitative tools to model preferences of stakeholders and
coordinate them with decisions about the design of products.
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Sample Publications:
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Shiau, C.-S. and J.J. Michalek (2008) "Should designers worry
about market systems?" Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences,
August 3-6, Brooklyn,
NY, USA.
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Michalek, J.J., O. Ceryan, P.Y. Papalambros, and Y.
Koren (2006) "Balancing marketing and manufacturing objectives in
product line design" ASME
Journal of Mechanical Design, v128 n6 p1196-1204.
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Michalek, J.J., F.M. Feinberg and P.Y. Papalambros
(2005) "Linking marketing and engineering product design decisions
via analytical target cascading," Journal of Product Innovation Management, v22 p42-62.
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Green Design and Environmental Policy
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Environmental regulations attempt to correct for market failures by
altering incentive structures or restricting the space of options
available to designers. Such regulations have direct impact on the
decisions made by designers, and the success of any such policy depends
upon the product designs that result under regulated market conditions.
DDL builds models to understand and predict the effects of policy on the
incentives that drive design decisions and the resulting impact on
producers, users, society and the environment.
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Sample Publications:
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Hauffe, R., C. Samaras and J.J. Michalek (2008) "Plug-in hybrid
vehicle simulation: How battery weight and charging patterns impact
cost, fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions," Proceedings of the ASME International Design Engineering Technical Conferences,
August 3-6, Brooklyn,
NY, USA.
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Shiau, C.-S., J.J. Michalek, and C.T. Hendrickson (2008) “A
structural analysis of vehicle design responses to corporate average
fuel economy policy,” in review, Transportation Research Part A: Policy
and Practice.
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Michalek, J.J., P.Y. Papalambros, and S.J. Skerlos (2004) "A
study of fuel efficiency and emission policy impact on optimal vehicle
design decisions," ASME
Journal of Mechanical Design, v126 p1062-1070.
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Information Systems for Sustainability
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The lack of simple, reliable, convenient, and accessible information
about the social and environmental impact of products and their producers
results in consumers ignoring such attributes, leading to undervaluation
in the marketplace and providing economic incentive for corporations to
compromise social and environmental responsibility in pursuit of reduced
cost and increased market share. DDL aims to provide consumers with quick
and simple access to customizable information about the social and
environmental characteristics of products and their producers on demand
and at the point of purchase.
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Additional Information:
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AWARE: A Step Toward Building a Sustainable Economy by Informing
Consumer Purchasing Decisions at the Point of Sale (2005)
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Architectural Design
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Most Computer Aided Design (CAD) tools offer precision, but when a
designer needs to quickly explore concept options and think through
design alternatives they typically sketch with pencil and paper. DDL has
used optimization in the early conceptual stage of design to help the
designer to quickly generate and compare alternatives visually and
computationally while interactively refining design goals and constraints
and visually guiding search. This allows the designer to integrate
subjective judgment and experience with the computational power of
optimization algorithms to achieve maximum efficiency while considering
aesthetic and usability issues that are difficult to quantify.
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Sample Publications:
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Choudhary, R. and J. Michalek (2005) "Design optimization in
computer aided architectural design," International Conference of the Association for Computer Aided
Architectural Design Research In Asia, April 28-30, 2005, New Delhi, India.
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Michalek, J.J., R. Choudhary and P.Y. Papalambros (2002)
"Architectural layout design optimization," Engineering Optimization, v34 n5
p461-484.
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Michalek, J.J. and P.Y. Papalambros (2002) "Interactive design
optimization of architectural layouts," Engineering Optimization, v34 n5 p485-501.
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