Research topics details
DESIGN CREATIVITY
Research during my PhD
Research area: Design creativity
Dissertation: Development of a support for effective concept exploration to enhance the creativity of engineering designers.
The research aimed to enhance creativity of engineering designers by providing a support that encourages exploration and search of new concept spaces in the conceptual phase of design by applying appropriate triggers.
SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING AND STANDARDS
Research at NIST (Post Doc.)
Research area: Sustainable design and manufacturing
As a postdoctoral fellow at NIST, I worked in the area of sustainable design and manufacturing. We collaborated with DOE, DOC, EPA, ANSI, Xerox and other organizations. I worked on three different projects. A short description of each of these projects is listed below.
SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES IN INDIAN PHARMACEUTICAL INDUSTRY
Sustainability in industries, balancing environmental safety with economic and social considerations, is a global concern, especially in India, where it began gaining attention in 2001. Among various sectors, the pharmaceutical industry stands out as a significant polluter, generating 25–70 kg of waste per kg of product, consuming high energy, and emitting substantial greenhouse gases (GHGs). This has motivated researchers to explore sustainability practices within the Indian pharmaceutical sector.
SUSTAINABILITY OF PRODUCTS DURING CONCEPTUAL DESIGN
Sustainability has become a core goal for companies worldwide. Sustainable development, as defined by Brundtland, involves meeting current needs without compromising future generations. Achieving this requires sustainable production and consumption, where consumer behavior and product design play critical roles. While sustainable production benefits society, consumption patterns can significantly impact the environment, making it vital to understand and guide both designers and consumers toward sustainable practices.
ECODESIGN SUPPORT FOR ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT
Global warming and resource depletion have made eco-friendly production a critical need. The Global Footprint Network’s 2016 data revealed natural resource use exceeding renewal rates by 1.6 times, prompting industries to adopt eco-design strategies. Eco-design integrates environmental considerations into product design across its life cycle. Despite its introduction in the 1990s, implementation in industries remains limited, primarily due to a mismatch between existing tools and designers’ needs. This research focuses on developing support mechanisms for designers to adopt eco-design effectively, especially during the early design stages.
SUSTAINABLE MACHINING
IONIC LIQUIDS AS METALWORKING FLUIDS IN MQL
Sustainable manufacturing seeks to optimize material conversion into products while minimizing resource and energy use, environmental impact, and health risks. Machining, a highly energy-intensive process, traditionally relies on cutting fluids to manage the heat generated. However, conventional cutting fluids pose environmental and health risks, such as toxic waste disposal and occupational diseases caused by exposure to harmful substances. To address these challenges, researchers are exploring alternatives like Minimum Quantity Lubrication (MQL) systems, which use minimal, non-recirculated lubricants, reducing ecological and disposal concerns.
Surface Textured cutting tools
In metal cutting, material removal generates significant heat and friction at the tool-chip interface. Cutting fluids are traditionally used to mitigate these effects but pose environmental, health, and economic challenges. Surface textured cutting tools have emerged as a promising alternative, enabling dry and near-dry machining by reducing or eliminating the need for cutting fluids. These tools utilize microcapillary networks to enhance access to air or lubricants at the sliding zone of the tool-chip interface, altering tribological conditions and improving machining performance.
SUSTAINABLE SUPPLY CHAIN
SUSTAINABILITY IN SUPPLY NETWORKS
Sustainability in supply networks is essential for mitigating environmental impacts and maintaining economic viability, especially in light of stricter global environmental regulations. For India, promoting sustainable manufacturing is critical to leveraging its demographic dividend and ensuring competitiveness in a global market. Current supply networks in manufacturing are often unsustainable, necessitating the integration of state-of-the-art, low-carbon technologies.
ENGINEERING AESTHETICS
Designers to Improve the Engineering Aesthetics of Products
In today’s competitive market, product aesthetics plays a pivotal role in design and consumer decision-making. Alongside functionality, cost, and ergonomics, aesthetics significantly impacts consumer perceptions, influencing both visual and cognitive responses. This research focuses on developing frameworks, methods, and tools to help industrial designers enhance engineering aesthetics, a critical factor for product success.
BIO-MIMICRY IN DESIGN
Bioinspired design approaches to support product packaging
Packaging faces challenges in protecting, communicating, and containing goods due to evolving product complexity, customer demands, regulations, and market dynamics. Nature offers solutions through its evolutionary designs, like coconuts’ impact-resistant shells, inspiring bioinspired packaging innovations. This approach promises sustainability, reduced material costs, energy efficiency, waste elimination, and improved brand value. However, significant gaps remain in tools, methodologies, and biological knowledge representation, limiting the design of nature-inspired packaging.
SUSTAINABILITY IN HOSPITALITY
SUSTAINABILITY PRACTICES IN HOSPITALITY SECTOR
The hospitality industry, a key global economic sector, faces increasing pressure to adopt sustainable practices due to environmental concerns, regulatory changes, and shifting consumer expectations. Sustainable hospitality aims to balance environmental, economic, and social sustainability, ensuring long-term competitiveness. This study examines the integration and impact of sustainable hospitality practices (SHPs) in India's hotel industry, focusing on different star-category hotels.