Professors and Researchers working in the Methods and Tools for Product Design research line belong to the national scientific-disciplinary group IIND-03/B “Design Methods for Industrial Engineering” (formerly ING-IND/15). Their research and teaching expertise focuses on Product Design, with an emphasis on methods and tools for product development and lifecycle management. The topics span design activities from defining requirements and conceptual ideation to detailed design, highlighting the use of virtual prototyping techniques and the effective representation and management of technical information. Moreover, the areas of interest include implementation, operational management, maintenance, and, finally, disposal or recycling, with an increasing focus on sustainability and circularity. Within this general framework, research and teaching activities are geared toward the digital innovation of products and processes, with particular emphasis on design aspects related to modern additive manufacturing techniques, human-machine interaction, human modeling, and biomimetic design.
The research line has access to state-of-the-art laboratories for both research and teaching, actively engaging in international, national, and regional research projects, often in collaboration with industry partners.