CAREER: Virtual Reality Techniques to Improve Product Design and Engineering Education

9625601 万斯 该NSF职业奖将资助以下研究：（1）使用虚拟现实技术来改进产品设计;（2）在工程课堂中实施主动学习技术。将确定虚拟现实有助于设计更好产品的设计领域，并开发适当的虚拟工具。 特别是，研究的重点将是空间机制和可视化技术的设计，以推进大型复杂系统的跨属性设计。 跨属性设计的研究成果将被纳入一个新的课程，基于有限元的优化。 教育活动的重点是探索和实施有效的教学方法，以提高学生的学习。 感兴趣的工程学院的研究小组将形成学习积极的教学策略。 将促进几个教师学习小组。 该奖项资助的研究将为虚拟现实应用程序的开发提供模板，以改善产品设计，并将主动学习技术整合到工程课堂中。 应用于产品设计的虚拟现实技术将导致在全三维设计空间中进行设计的能力，并导致在计划生产运行之前减少所需的物理原型的数量。 不习惯在计算机屏幕上查看三维模型的设计过程中所涉及的人员将能够在设计过程的早期将他们的专业知识应用于设计过程，因为通过使用虚拟现实可以获得先进的可视化和交互功能。

9625601 Vance This NSF Career Award will fund research into (1) the use of virtual reality techniques to improve product design and (2) the implementation of active learning techniques in the engineering classroom. Areas of design where virtual reality can contribute to the design of better products will be identified and appropriate virtual tools will be developed. In particulars, focus of the research will be on the design of spatial mechanisms and visualization techniques to advance cross-attribute design of large, complex systems. Results of this research in cross-attribute design will be incorporated into a new course in finite element-based optimization. The educational activities focus on searching out and implementing effective teaching methods that will improve student learning. Study groups of interested engineering faculty will be formed to learn about active teaching strategies. Several faculty learning groups will be facilitated. The research funded under this award will provide a template for both the development of virtual reality applications to improve product design and a process to integrate active learning techniques in the engineering classroom. Virtual reality techniques applied to product design will result in the ability to design in a fully three-dimensional design space, and result in reducing the number of physical prototypes needed before production runs are scheduled. Personnel involved in the design process who are not accustomed to viewing three-dimensional models on a computer screen will be able to bring their expertise to bear early in the design process because of the advanced visualization and interaction capabilities available through the use of virtual reality.