Product innovation

Faculty in Mechanical Engineering are pushing the frontiers of design theory, methods, and automation in areas ranging from consumer-based innovation to new design tools and materials.

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Learn who in Mechanical Engineering is working product innovation.

Product innovation

  • screwdrivers

    Concept through production

    Can better products be made through 3D printing and new materials? Can we design products consumers love that are also good for the earth? Can we create new tools and methods so that people design creative, better functioning products? What role does artificial intelligence and machine learning play in innovative design?

    Faculty and students in mechanical engineering explore product design from early concept stages through production, focusing on design theory, methods, and practice to advance the efficiency and effectiveness of new products.

  • 3d printed metal part

    Innovation in design

    Faculty explore product creation, services, and interactive experiences that define new product opportunities to exceed user value expectations.

    They collaborate across disciplines in business, design, and psychology to understand the decision-making that drives consumers to choose products and how people can create more desirable products.

    Faculty also collaborate in the areas of artificial intelligence, biomechanics, energy, materials, and other emerging technologies to advance the design of solutions to hard engineering problems.

    Faculty involved: Jonathan Cagan, Christopher McComb, Jeremy Michalek, Kenji Shimada, Conrad Tucker, Katie Whitefoot

  • CAD design of a statue

    Computational tools for design

    Researchers explore advances in 3D modeling, generative software, and machine learning to enable better design of new products. They investigate the integration of computational tools such as geometric modeling with analysis for efficiency as well as custom-made product opportunities. Other work uses optimizing search to explore broad design spaces, seeking creative outcomes or solutions to challenging optimization problems.

    Our mechanical engineers also take advantage of artificial intelligence and machine learning tools such as deep reinforcement learning, which creates and uses efficient algorithms to solve complex problems in a series of steps. These tools can be applied to a range of areas from healthcare to robotics to electronics design.

    Faculty involved: Jonathan Cagan, Burak Kara, Christopher McComb, Burak Ozdoganlar, Kenji Shimada, Conrad Tucker

    • Related News

    Scalable manufacturing unlocks potential of soft electronics Opens in new window

    New research from Burak Ozdoganlar, Carmel Majidi, and Kadri Burga Ozutemiz seeks to develop a scalable manufacturing method that combines the best of quality and quantity on a miniature scale, with the potential to reimagine how wearable medical devices are made.

    Virtual reality partners become real world neighbors Opens in new window

    In July, the YKK AP Technologies Lab opened at Mill 19. Their focus on the development of a virtual factory is well aligned with the digital twin work underway at the Manufacturing Futures Institute.

    Engineering for fun Opens in new window

    Sergio Rodriguez turned his passion for small-scale design into an independent study and an internship opportunity.

    DfAI: The missing piece of Artificial Intelligence Engineering Opens in new window

    Breakthrough improvements in how industries develop new technology using AI in engineering design has a starting point thanks to a framework developed by researchers at Carnegie Mellon and Penn State University.

    Jon Cagan named head of Mechanical Engineering Opens in new window

    Jon Cagan will be the new head of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, effective November 1, 2022.

    Nanoprinting electrodes for customized treatments of disease Opens in new window

    Researchers pioneer the CMU Array—a customizable, 3D nano-printed, ultra-high-density microelectrode array platform for next-generation brain-computer interfaces to treat neurological disorders.

    Hydrogels pave way for future of soft robotics Opens in new window

    Wenhuan Sun, Victoria Webster-Wood, and Adam Feinberg have created an open-source, commercially available fiber extruder to benefit future research with hydrogels and soft robotics.

    Scaling up the production of liquid metal circuits Opens in new window

    At Carnegie Mellon, mechanical engineering researchers have developed a new scalable and reproducible manufacturing technique that could accelerate the mainstream adoption and commercialization of soft and stretchable electronics.

    Explore Other Research Topics

    merging engineering, design, & business

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