This module can be used for self-study learning, as lecture material and background reading, to support further learning (links and references), and to verify one’s level of understanding of usability principles and application (via the review test).

This site is based on a supporting module of the CSS (Children’s Sensory Stimulation) centre project, funded by the Canadian Design Engineering Network and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

As of 26 May 2006, the module is delivered as a website in English and French.

[Description and screenshot taken from the wiki page for this module. Materials are used under the terms of a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license.]

This module presents main issues surrounding design for the environment. Every product must be dealt in some way at the end of its life. Main approaches (reduction, reuse, remanufacture, recycling, and disposal) are discussed. Each method is explained with respect to cost and environmental impact. Examples and case studies are included. Sustainable design as a method is also discussed. A new tool developed by the authors for qualitative life cycle assessment is presented, with a detailed example.

[Description and screenshot taken from the wiki page for this module. Materials are used under the terms of a CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 license.]

Most sustainability problems are system problems (for example, transport or food consumption) and almost insoluble without completely new ways of thinking. To address sustainability issues, which in broad terms are the key issues of our times, designers need to be able to understand design problems in context, envisage and describe better future systems and then design products that could be part of a new improved system.

This resource has been developed at the University of Leeds as part of the Royal Academy of Engineering supported scheme of Visiting Professors in Engineering Design for Sustainable Development and is intended for teachers, tutors, lecturers, academics and researchers. A major aim of the Royal Academy of Engineering scheme is to create transferable case studies.

The resource contains materials needed to deliver and assess a sustainable design project where students research a problem area, envision a future in the problem domain, define a brief for a product that could be part of that future and design a product that responds to the brief. It has been developed as a 100 study-hour project as part of the University of Leeds undergraduate programme in Product Design.

[Description and screenshot taken from the University of Leeds' website for this resource. This work is licensed under a CC BY-NC 2.0 Licence.]

The course presents a systematic approach to design and assembly of mechanical assemblies, which should be of interest to engineering professionals, as well as post-baccalaureate students of mechanical, manufacturing and industrial engineering. It introduces mechanical and economic models of assemblies and assembly automation at two levels. “Assembly in the small” includes basic engineering models of part mating, and an explanation of the Remote Center Compliance. “Assembly in the large” takes a system view of assembly, including the notion of product architecture, feature-based design, and computer models of assemblies, analysis of mechanical constraint, assembly sequence analysis, tolerances, system-level design for assembly and JIT methods, and economics of assembly automation. Class exercises and homework include analyses of real assemblies, the mechanics of part mating, and a semester long project. Case studies and current research are included.

Specific objectives for students include: understanding a systematic approach to analyzing assembly problems; appreciating the many ways assembly influences product development and manufacturing; see a complete approach that includes technology, systems engineering, and economic analysis; and get a feeling for what is technologically feasible.

[Description and screenshot taken from MIT OCW page for this course. (c) MIT used under the terms of their CC-NC-SA license.]

The course focuses on the use of mathematical models to assess interactions between humans and the natural environment. By the end of the course, students should be able to formulate and use mathematical models to assess human impacts on the environment and assess the economic value of natural resources.
This course provides a review of physical, chemical, ecological, and economic principles used to examine interactions between humans and the natural environment. Mass balance concepts are applied to ecology, chemical kinetics, hydrology, and transportation; energy balance concepts are applied to building design, ecology, and climate change; and economic and life cycle concepts are applied to resource evaluation and engineering design. Numerical models are used to integrate concepts and to assess environmental impacts of human activities. Problem sets involve development of MATLAB® models for particular engineering applications. Some experience with computer programming is helpful but not essential.

[Description and screenshot taken from MIT OCW page for this course. (c) MIT used under the terms of their CC-NC-SA license.]

This course introduces you to modern manufacturing with four areas of emphasis: manufacturing processes, equipment/control, systems, and design for manufacturing. The course exposes you to integration of engineering and management disciplines for determining manufacturing rate, cost, quality and flexibility. Topics include process physics, equipment design and automation/control, quality, design for manufacturing, industrial management, and systems design and operation.

Class objectives are: internalize the attributes along which the success or failure of a manufacturing process, machine, or system will be measured: quality, cost, rate and flexibility; provide exposure to a range of current industrial processes and practices used to manufacture products in high and low volumes; apply physics to understand the factors that control the rate of production and influence the quality, cost and flexibility of processes; understand the impact of manufacturing constraints on product design and process planning; apply an understanding of variation to the factors that control the production rate and influence the quality, cost and flexibility of processes and systems; understand the role of control in processes and systems, especially in view of the presence of noise (variation); and provide exposure to a range of manufacturing system constraints.

[Description and screenshot taken from MIT OCW page for this course. (c) MIT used under the terms of their CC-NC-SA license.]

The course considers the growing popularity of sustainability and its implications for the practice of engineering, particularly for the built environment. Two particular methodologies are featured: life cycle assessment (LCA) and Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED). The LCA methodology is a rigorous, quantitative approach to environmental impact evaluation that tallies the impacts of products throughout their lifetimes; it has been used successfully in a number of industries (particularly packaging and manufacturing) but less frequently in the built environment. The LEED rating system awards points to projects for achieving specific goals considered relevant to sustainable design, and rates built projects according to the total number of points achieved. The fundamentals of each approach will be presented. Specific topics covered include water and wastewater management, energy use, material selection, and construction.

[Description and screenshot taken from MIT OCW page for this course. (c) MIT used under the terms of their CC-NC-SA license.]