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The central aim of the current research programme was to gain an understanding of the cognitive processes involved in engineering design. Since little previous empirical research has investigated this domain, two major exploratory studies were undertaken here. Study One monitored seven final-year students tackling extended design projects. Diary and interview data were used to construct detailed design behaviour graphs that decomposed activities into structured representations reflecting the goals and subgoals that were pursued. Study Two involved individual observation (using video) of six professional engineers "thinking-aloud" as they tackled a small-scale design problem in a laboratory setting. A taxonomic scheme was developed to classify all verbal protocol units and other observable behaviours. In interpreting the data extensive use was made of theoretical concepts (e. g. schemas and mental models) deriving from current research on human problem solving and thinking. Evidence indicated that the engineers studied had many similar methods of working which could be described at a high level of abstraction in terms of a common "design schema". A central aspect of this schema was a problem reduction strategy which was used to break down complex design problems into more manageable subproblems. The data additionally revealed certain differences in design strategy between engineers' solution modelling activities and also showed up tendencies toward error and suboptimal performance. In this latter respect a particularly common tendency was for designers to "satisfice", that is to focus exclusively on initial solution concepts rather than comparing alternatives with the aim of optimising choices. The general implications of the present findings are discussed in relation to both the training of design skills and the development of intelligent computer systems to aid or automate the design process. A final, smaller scale of experimental study is also reported which investigated the possibility of improving design processes via subtle interventions aimed at imposing greater structure on design behaviours.

Thesis (M.S.)--State University of New York at Binghamton, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 55-56).

Across industries, Computer-aided design (CAD) programs are used to create vehicle parts. Simultaneously, virtual reality (VR) has become more common. Can these two co-existing technologies benefit one another? This thesis investigates how CAD modeling can be enhanced with the help of VR. Specifically, it focuses on importing CAD models during the runtime of a VR application, visualizing those models in real size. An additional feature includes the ability to interact with the imported CAD models, enabling assembly simulations. This thesis specifically explores how parts of electric autonomous trucks can be assembled in VR.  The results are moderately satisfying, with users expressing both satisfaction and dissatisfaction with certain aspects of VR as a tool in this context. However, only two users evaluated the application, indicating the need for a more extensive evaluation. / I flera industrier är CAD-program vanliga för att modellera delar till fordon. Samtidigt växer virtual reality (VR) fram och blir allt vanligare. Kan dessa två teknologier samexistera och dra nytta av varandra? Det här arbetet undersöker om CAD-modellering kan dra fördel av VR som ett verktyg för visualisering. En av de mer unika aspekterna av detta arbete är hur import av CAD-modeller under körtid  hanteras. En annan funktionalitet som undersöks är möjligheten att interagera med de importerade CAD-modellerna, vilket också öppnar för möjligheter att simulera monteringsprocesser. Resultatet var någorlunda tillfredsställande enligt intressenterna som utvärderade den slutgiltiga VR-applikationen. Det fanns aspekter som inte var helt tillfredsställande samtidigt som det fanns delar som var bra. Det ska beaktas att det endast var två intressenter som utvärderade den slutgiltiga applikationen, vilket indikerar att det behövs mer utvärdering för att fastställa ett gediget resultat.