Donald C. Graham Professor of Engineering                            
Professor of Mechanical Engineering
Professor of Architecture
Professor of Art and Design

Director, Optimal Design (ODE) Laboratory
Director, Design Science Program
 

2250 GG Brown Building
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48104-2125, USA
Tel: (734) 647-8401 FAX: (734) 647-8403
e-mail:pyp at umich.edu

All artifacts surrounding us are the results of designing. Creating these artifacts involves making a great many decisions, which suggests that designing can be viewed as a decision-making process. An abstract description of the artifact using mathematical expressions of relevant natural laws, experience, and geometry is the mathematical model of the artifact. This model may contain many alternative designs, so criteria for comparing these alternatives can be introduced in the model. Within the limitations of such a model, the best, or optimum, design can be identified with the aid of mathematical methods.

Principles of Optimal Design: Modeling and Computation
2d Ed. by Panos Y. Papalambros and Douglass J. Wilde,  Cambridge University Press, New York, 1988, 2000.

Research and Education Interests

• Design science, decision modeling and optimization
• Linking engineering design with art, business, and psychology
• Optimal design of distributed, multidisciplinary systems
• Application domains:
• architecture
• automotive systems, hybrid and electric vehicles
• product design and development
• structures and mechanical systems

Fall 2007: Analytical Product Design (ME455/DESCI501/ARTDES 300) Design of artifacts is addressed from a multidisciplinary perspective that includes engineering, art, psychology, ergonomics, marketing, and economics. Using a decision-making framework, emphasis is placed on understanding basic quantitative methods employed by the different disciplines for making design decisions, building mathematical models, and accounting for interdisciplinary interactions throughout the design development process. Students work in teams to apply the methods on a design project from concept generation to prototyping and design verification. The course is open to seniors and graduate students in the UniversityClass Nbr: 26634

Fall 2007: Design Science Collloquium (DESCI 790) Topics on Design Science are presented by doctoral candidates and by invited speakers across campus and from outside the University. The course is open to seniors (permission of instructor) and graduate students in the University. Class Nbr: 26635