Prabir Sarkar

A functional representation for aiding biomimetic and artificial inspiration of new ideas

Inspiration is useful for exploration and discovery of new solution spaces. Systems in natural and artificial worlds and their functionality are seen as rich sources of inspiration for idea generation. However, unlike in the artificial domain where existing systems are often used for inspiration, those from the natural domain are rarely used in a systematic way for this purpose. Analogy is long regarded as a powerful means for inspiring novel idea generation. One aim of the work reported here is to initiate similar work in the area of systematic biomimetics for product development, so that inspiration from both natural and artificial worlds can be used systematically to help develop novel, analogical ideas for solving design problems. A generic model for representing causality of natural and artificial systems has been developed, and used to structure information in a database of systems from both the domains. These are implemented in a piece of software for automated analogical search of relevant ideas from the databases to solve a given problem. Preliminary experiments at validating the software indicate substantial potential for the approach.

Developing Engineering Products Using Inspiration From Nature

Nature can be a major source of inspiration for engineering designers. Biomimicry is often used in specific cases to develop solutions that mimic natural systems. However, knowledge of natural systems is still not used systematically and commonly for inspiring innovative product development, from ideation of solutions to their implementation as products. In ideation, potential solutions to a design problem are generated. To support ideation, two databases are developed with entries having information about natural and artificial systems. A novel generic causal model is developed for structuring information of how these systems achieve their behavior. Three algorithms are developed for analogical search of entries that could inspire ideation of solutions to a given problem. In realization, evaluation and modification of these solutions are carried out by experimenting with these in virtual and physical forms and environments.

Metrics, standards and industry best practices for sustainable manufacturing systems

Substantial global climate changes due to global warming and the growing rate resource depletion have compelled several researchers to focus their research in the area of sustainability. Ensuring a sustainable future requires a systems approach. Sustainable systems are characterized by interlinked interactions at various levels spanning economic, ecological and societal issues. Emphasis on interactions within and across these levels is critical to the fundamental understanding of sustainable design and manufacturing systems, because tackling any one of the issues in isolation can result in unintended consequences along other dimensions. Sustainable systems are best understood in terms of information across products, processes, management (operational) aspects. In this paper, we outline several issues related to sharing this information across engineering and business units. We outline the information infrastructural needs to realize sustainable manufacturing, namely, trusted system of measurement methods and metrics, information models, simulation models, databases for toxic materials, and manufacturing products/processes, standards and best practices relevant to sustainable manufacturing, and validation, simulation and testing methodologies for information models and standards.

Sustainable Manufacturing Indicator Repository

Sustainable manufacturing promotes manufacturing processes that minimize environmental and social impacts while maintaining economic benefits. To achieve this, manufacturers seek metrics and measurement methods to enable them to track the progress and manage their manufacturing processes and product designs. A number of indicator sets have been devised to analyze and score sustainable manufacturing; however, presence of many indicator sets has created difficulty in selecting the appropriate set. This paper presents a sustainability indicator repository, called Sustainable Manufacturing Indicator Repository (SMIR), an integration and extension of thirteen popular sustainability indicator sets. From an extensive review of publicly available indicator sets, the SMIR is based on five dimensions of sustainability: environmental stewardship, economic growth, social well-being, technological advancement, and performance management. The purpose of the SMIR is to provide an organized set of centralized, Web-based, open, and neutral indicators that can be accessible by small and medium size manufacturing enterprises. The SMIR can be an application as well as educational tool for manufacturers by providing them with necessary information on in-process and off-line sustainability measures.Copyright

Sustainable Manufacturing: Metrics, Standards, and Infrastructure - Workshop summary

This report summarizes the presentations, discussions, and recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Workshop “Sustainable Manufacturing: Metrics, Standards, and Infrastructure” held at NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, October 13 through October 15, 2009. The primary objective of this Workshop was to bring together experts and various stakeholders to identify and discuss measurement and standards enablers that positively affect the social, economic, environmental, and technological aspects of designing sustainable production processes and products. The Workshop was well attended and consisted of thirty presentations organized under five sessions: 1) Government Initiatives; 2) Industry Perspectives; 3) University Research; 4) Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) research; and 5) Solution Providers Views. Two breakout sessions and an industry panel provided a set of recommendations for addressing critical issues in sustainable manufacturing.

Summary of the NIST workshop on sustainable manufacturing: metrics, standards, and infrastructure

This report summarises the presentations, discussions, and recommendations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Workshop ‘Sustainable Manufacturing: Metrics, Standards, and Infrastructure’ held at NIST, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, October 13th through October 15th, 2009. The primary objective of this workshop was to bring together experts and various stakeholders to identify and discuss measurement and standards enablers that positively affect the social, economic, environmental, and technological aspects of designing sustainable production processes and products. The workshop was well attended and consisted of thirty presentations organised under five sessions: Two breakout sessions and an industry panel provided a set of recommendations for addressing critical issues in sustainable manufacturing.

A Support for Protocol Analysis for Design Research

Introduction Developing a support mechanism for any process requires an in-depth understanding of the process. Understanding designing in depth is important because the activities performed in addressing the design problem play a significant role in the success of the product.1 In engineering, design researchers frequently use protocol analysis to understand the process of designing—a prerequisite for developing effective support for designers. During the design process, designers generate a large amount of data that generally are not captured, but are a rich source for understanding that process. Protocol analysis is used extensively for detailed empirical studies of the design process, both for understanding designing “as is” and for evaluating design support for its effect on the design process. Many researchers have used protocol analysis to understand the design process, including Stauffer; Ehrlenspiel and Dylla; Blessing; Fricke; Gero and McNeil; Gunther; and Sarkar and Chakrabarti.2 During protocol analysis, the activities involved in a design process are captured using video cameras and then transcribed (i.e., the words and actions of the designers are typed); the descriptions are then read and analyzed to discover meaningful patterns.3 In this series of steps, the designer or designers first is/ are asked to participate in one or a series of design sessions that involve solving design problems. The designers are often asked to use “think-aloud protocol,” in which they verbally express all their thoughts. All the activities during the design sessions are captured using audio-video equipment. These visual data are then transcribed (i.e., converted into text). The text is then “coded” into categories that would help answer the research questions. Finally, the design researcher analyzes the coded transcription to answer the questions. Protocol analysis mainly involves the last three steps: transcription, coding, and analysis. Various researchers have shown that the number and variety of design activities that can be studied using protocol analysis are enormous;4 they include, for instance, design activities in engineering, software design, and architectural problem solving.5 1 R. G. Cooper, “New Products: What Distinguishes the Winners?” Research Technology Management 33, no. 6 (1990): 27–32; S. Nidamarthi, “Understanding and Supporting Requirement Satisfaction in the Design Process” (Cambridge University, 1999). 2 L. A. Stauffer, “An Empirical Study on the Process of Mechanical Design” (Oregon State University, 1987); K. Ehrlenspiel and N. Dylla, “Experimental Investigation of Designers’ Thinking Methods and Design Procedures,” Journal of Engineering Design 4, no. 3 (1993): 201-12; L. T. M. Blessing, “A Process-based Approach to Computer Supported Engineering Design” (the Netherlands, Heurista: University of Twente, 1994); G. Fricke, “Successful Individual Approaches in Engineering Design,” Research in Engineering Design 8, no. 3 (1996): 151-65; J. S. Gero and T. McNeill, “An Approach to the Analysis of Design Protocols,” Design Studies 19, no. 1 (1998): 21-61; J. Gunther, “Individual Influences on the Design Process-time-oriented Vs. Quality Oriented Design,” in Proc. ICED, 1999, 201-04; P. Sarkar and A. Chakrabarti, “Understanding Search in Design,” in Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Engineering Design (ICED07), 2007. 3 S. Nidamarthi, “Understanding and Supporting Requirement Satisfaction in the design process.” 4 N. Cross, H. Christiaans, and K. Dorst, “Introduction: The Delft Protocols Workshop in Analysing Design Activity,” in N. Cross, H. Christiaans, and K. Dorst, (eds.), Analysing Design Activity (Chichester, UK: John Wiley and Sons, 1996). 5 C. W. Ennis and S. W. Gyeszly, “Protocol Analysis of the Engineering Systems

Towards a Methodology for Analyzing Sustainability Standards using the Zachman Framework

There exists a multitude of standards and regulations related to sustainability. It is critical to enable users to identify applicable standards across entire lifecycles of products, processes, and services. To synthesize this variety of standards, it is important to analyze them from the information modeling point of view, while incorporating the requirements of various stakeholders. Here, we propose such a multi-perspective approach based on the Zachman framework. Using this approach it is possible to identify gaps and overlaps, harmonize, and develop implementation strategies for sustainability standards. We then introduce our case study results as part of the Sustainability Standards Portal.

An Information Modeling Methodology for Sustainability Standards

Standards and regulations are developed and introduced in the market to meet the needs of specific domains. As standards are usually developed by experts within a particular domain, the modeling requirements necessary to represent the information associated with these standards are often not well understood. The lack of clear understanding of information requirements creates an environment where information models can become difficult to produce from standards, and the criteria for complying with these standards may be obscure. The variety of challenges encountered in codifying standards using information models necessitates a carefully devised methodology that takes all areas of the whole enterprise into consideration. This paper presents a methodology for the development of information models to complement and support standards based on the Zachman framework for enterprise architecture. In this paper, we will discuss some of the challenges encountered in modeling information for standards and regulations related to sustainability, and subsequently describe how our approach can be used to address these challenges. We will illustrate our approach by developing an example information model to support RoHS (Directive on the restriction of the use of certain hazardous substances in electrical and electronic equipment). This work could lead to the development of software tools and environments for computer aided standards development. Finally, we discuss the advantages and drawbacks of our methodology.Copyright

A Measure of Product Sustainability Based on Triple Bottom Line

Sustainable societies require the use of sustainable products. Sustainability is generally expressed in terms of Triple Bottom Line (TBL) — people, planet, and profit. Products that are sustainable have positive effects and value for all the stakeholders. In this work, we propose different measures to assess sustainability of manufactured products with respect to TBL. The proposed measures should help designers to assess sustainability of design alternatives during the initial phase of design and point out ways to reduce the impact.Copyright