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At the Paul M. Rady Department of Mechanical Engineering, the process and application of design is everywhere.

Students are constantly designing tools and technologies. Faculty members are launching successful startups on the backs of their own designs. In just the past two years, Venture Partners at CU �鶹ӰԺ has supported 10 new startups featuring inventions designed by ME faculty and students.

But earlier this fall, the department took nearly a decade of development to a whole new level by introducing a new research area in design. This focus area, geared toward PhD students, involves the study of the design process and how various contexts (environmental, psychological, political, etc.) affect the artifacts that today’s engineers aim to create.

It’s the next step in the department’s design growth, building on the current MS design framework and the large network of undergraduate design courses made possible by Design Center Colorado. ME faculty and staff have worked tirelessly over the years to build this infrastructure and weave elements of design throughout all the other focus areas in the department. The new design PhD focus area represents the next iteration.

Grace Burleson, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, was a key player, among others, in the creation of this new concentration. She believes the focus area will help CU �鶹ӰԺ researchers enhance the practice of design, and advance design methodologies throughout many engineering disciplines to tackle the difficult societal challenges we see today.

“Design has been happening in the department since the beginning. It’s embedded in mechanical engineering and our other focus areas,” Burleson said. “However, that framing makes it challenging to focus on design as a scientific study.

“Our engineers are being asked to solve much more complex issues than ever before, and we need to expand our thought of design in order to be successful.”

To the first iteration

 

Nicole Xu, assistant professor in mechanical engineering, showcasing her lab's bio-inspired design for robotic jellyfish.

The Design Focus Area launched in fall 2024 with over 20 faculty members from very diverse backgrounds. Some faculty members tackle design questions in the areas of air quality and sustainability. Others practice design through the lens of materials and mechanics.

This interdisciplinary structure is a staple in the field of design, which Burleson calls a “horizontal discipline.” While other focus areas might require in-depth, vertical research into one topic, design requires a wide range of knowledge in a handful of topics. It’s a holistic approach that invites students with diverse backgrounds who are looking to study design.

“When I’m recruiting PhD students, I’m looking for those diverse backgrounds,” Burleson said. “We have students from mechanical engineering, physics, even theater and law. It really lends a unique perspective to the focus area.”

Even the current research that faculty and students are conducting is multi-dimensional and exciting. Nicole Xu, another assistant professor in mechanical engineering, focuses on biology-inspired design elements for robotic mechanisms.  creates aquatic vehicles that mimic the movements of live organisms for environmental monitoring.

“Engineering is often seen as a purely logical field, but we need to think more broadly about other aspects of design,” Xu said. “In my work, we apply design principles from animals to improve or expand our available underwater technologies. For other faculty, the perspective  could be the emotional contexts of design science, like teamwork and collaboration.

“Design is already inherent in every engineering project, with all the different types of research in our department. But it’s never been brought to the forefront like it is now with this new focus area.”

On to the next evolution

 

James Harper, assistant teaching professor in mechanical engineering.

Burleson says the focus area will continue to expand as engineers apply and advance new sciences. She also mentions rumors of an increased emphasis on design practice and research across campus to leverage the university’s vast consortium of design expertise.

Assistant Teaching Professor James Harper echoes those same sentiments, saying there is ample opportunity to enhance the curriculum going forward. He even says that prospective PhD students have the opportunity as they are here to leave their mark on the department, and change the way design is taught college-wide based on their research.

“Engineers are not taught to talk to people,” Harper said. “We’re taught the technical side of things. But design relies on engineers understanding people and how products are actually used. Good design requires gathering contextual data, as well as entrepreneurial skills, and we’ve begun to teach these topics even in undergraduate engineering courses, too.”

One of Burleson’s design-track PhD students, Mark Henderson, recognizes the impact he could have on future generations. As a patent attorney, Henderson has seen lots of creators receive patent rejections on their inventions because their designs were “too similar” to others.

His research in the focus area revolves around one question: what design choices would engineers make if they already knew the “state of the art”?

“Here at CU �鶹ӰԺ, I have the opportunity to use these classes and this community for design research,” Henderson said. “But there is also potential in the broader �鶹ӰԺ area to do industry research with the large companies that are here.

“I really couldn’t believe the fit when I chose to study design at CU �鶹ӰԺ.”