CI-TEAM Demonstration Project: Collaborative Research - A Sustainable Product Development Collaboratory

韦恩州立大学的可持续产品开发合作实验室正在实现可持续设计和制造的协作式电子学习实验室。可持续产品开发合作？在产品建筑设计、制造、装配和供应链决策的背景下，向主动学习者（即K-12、大学和从业者）传达可持续性原则。智力价值：这个合作是创造性和原创性的，因为它将产生一个整体的和广泛可用的工具，通过整合以下领域的现有研究，将支持基于网络的概念产品设计：分布式决策支持，语义装配设计，产品架构优化，装配和过程分析，供应链配置，生命周期评估，以及制造教育创新，以满足学习者（K-12学生，工程专业学生和从业者）的需求。该项目正在取得四项成果。成果一：一个用户友好且免许可的基于网络的工具和交互式电子学习平台，用于教育用户进行可持续设计和制造。这个合作实验室正在展示不同的产品设计对供应链成本和环境影响的影响，并以学习者友好的例子（例如，三环活页夹、背包、电动牙刷和自行车）。研究人员正在克服现有技术的局限性，其中包括缺乏可扩展的工具/技术，无法在产品开发的所有阶段捕获产品设计架构和生命周期过程需求之间的相互依赖性，以及通过灵活的、有代表性的模型和算法共同改进产品和过程的复杂性。成果二：中学和高等教育材料，提供与合作实验室互动的实践，基于项目的活动。成果三：评估工具，以评估合作实验室在教育学生网络基础设施方面的教育影响和能力，包括评估参与的高中和大学的学生以及用户对网络平台的采用情况。迄今为止，可持续设计和制造的基层活动已经达到了相当高的水平。然而，工程项目和制造公司仍在努力寻找方法，以教育工程师在整体产品和工艺开发方面的生命周期成本和环境影响。结果四：这项研究将吸引高中生和代表性不足的大学人口，以促进多样化的网络就绪劳动力。在网络学习者范式下，用户正在体验和承担可持续的产品设计，同时考虑产品、过程和供应链对产品架构和环境绩效知识集的影响。更广泛的影响：拟议的工作通过基于网络的产品设计提高产品和环境可持续性的意识，直接响应了对网络劳动力和可持续工程教育的需求。与可持续性相关的研究已被证明会不成比例地吸引来自代表性不足群体的学生进入STEM学科，并将扩大他们对下一代工程教育和研究的参与。为了提高设计和环境可持续性的劳动力准备，合作实验室正在支持产品和相关供应链的开发，以提高性能，降低成本，减少对环境的影响（例如，碳足迹）。事实上，外包的趋势将导致全球碳足迹的增长，即使不考虑相关的运输，由于效率较低的能源生产和制造过程。该合作实验室通过可访问的基于网络的工具教育工程师关于可持续设计的知识，直接支持产品制造业。这些工具将有助于维持美国的工业？通过提高生产率、机械产品的质量和可持续性来提高美国的竞争优势。鉴于参与大学，特别是底特律韦恩州立大学的学生人数不足，该项目将通过让妇女和少数族裔高中生和大学生参与研究和实地研究来支持社会教育需求。项目的成功实施将有助于以适度的成本为学术机构发展新的教学方法，将可持续性纳入工程课程，并培养一支熟练的劳动力，以满足现代工业对可持续产品开发的需要。提出的综合学习环境也将促进高中生的进步。通过具体的，现实的例子，多步骤解决问题的技能。最后，该项目将扩大以往研究成果的影响，并为其他研究和教育项目的合作奠定基础，从而加强研究和教育基础设施。

This Sustainable Product Development Collaboratory at Wayne State University is realizing a collaborative e-learning laboratory for sustainable design and manufacturing?a Sustainable Product Development Collaboratory?for conveying sustainability principles in the context of product architectural design, manufacturing, assembly, and supply chain decisions across a spectrum of active learners (i.e., K-12, university, and practitioners). Intellectual Merit : This collaboratory is creative and original because it will result in a holistic and broadly useable tool that will support cyber-based conceptual product design by integrating existing research in the following areas: distributed decision support, semantic assembly design, product architecture optimization, assembly and process analysis, supply chain configuration, life cycle assessment, and manufacturing education innovation, to address the needs across a spectrum of learners (K-12 students, engineering students, and practitioners). The project is delivering four outcomes. Outcome one: A user friendly and license-free web-based tool and interactive e-learning platform to educate users in sustainable design and manufacturing. This collaboratory is demonstrating the effects of different product designs on supply chain costs and environmental impacts with learner friendly examples (i.e., three ring binder, backpack, electric toothbrush, and bicycle). Researchers are overcoming limitations of the existing state of the art, which include a lack of scalable tools/technologies that can capture interdependencies between product design architecture and life cycle process requirements at all phases of product development, and the complexity of jointly improving the product and processes through flexible, representative models and algorithms. Outcome two: Secondary and post-secondary educational materials that provide hands-on, project-based activities in interaction with the Collaboratory. Outcome three: Evaluation tools to assess the educational impacts and competency of the Collaboratory in educating students about cyberinfrastructure, including assessment of students at the participating high school and universities and user adoption of the cyber-platform. To date, there has been a significant level of grassroots activities for sustainable design and manufacturing. However, engineering programs and manufacturing companies continue to struggle with methods to educate engineers in holistic product and process development with a view of life cycle costs and environmental effects. Outcome four: This research will engage high-school students and underrepresented college populations to promote a diverse cyber-ready workforce. Under the cyber-learner paradigm, users are experiencing and undertaking sustainable product design with consideration of product, process, and supply chain impacts facilitated by product architecture and environmental performance knowledge sets. Broader Impacts : The proposed work directly responds to the needs for a cyber-enabled workforce and sustainable engineering education by increasing awareness of product and environmental sustainability through cyber-based product design. Sustainability-related research has been shown to disproportionately attract students to STEM disciplines from underrepresented groups, and will broaden their involvement in next generation engineering education and research. To increase workforce preparedness for design and environmental sustainability, the Collaboratory is supporting the development of products and related supply chains for increased performance, reduced costs, and reduced environmental impacts (e.g., carbon footprint). Indeed, the trend towards outsourcing will lead to growth of the global carbon footprint, even without accounting for associated transportation, due to less efficient energy generation and manufacturing processes. The Collaboratory is directly supporting the product manufacturing industry by educating engineers about sustainable design through accessible cyber-based tools. These tools will help maintain the U.S. industry?s competitive edge by enhancing productivity, and quality and sustainability of mechanical products. Given the underrepresented student populations at participating universities, and in particular Wayne State in Detroit, the project will support societal educational needs by involving women and minority high school and university students in research and field studies. Successful implementation of the project will help to develop, at a modest cost, new pedagogy for academic institutions to integrate sustainability into engineering curricula, and prepare a skilled workforce that meets the needs of modern industry for sustainable product development. The proposed integrated learning environment will also advance high school students? multi-step problem solving skills through tangible, realistic examples. Finally, the project will enhance research and education infrastructure by extending the effects of previous research findings and by forming the basis for collaboration on other research and education projects.