C. International Project Management and Nanotechnology

Introduction to Project Management

Dr. Miklós Daróczi, Associate Professor  

The main objective of the course is to deliver some theoretical and practical knowledge related mainly to the project planning, scheduling and budgeting. The module starts by defining the project and differentiating project management from general management. The project manager’s role, the project life cycle and the elements of project plan are also briefly discussed. The common formats of schedule the Gantt-charts and PERT/CPM networks, some methods of budgeting and cost estimating are also covered. Based on these techniques students will be able to participate in project planning and implementation.

Student teams will prepare a report and give a presentation on a special project. The purpose of this assignment is to deepen your knowledge on planning projects and to share that knowledge with the rest of the group. The topic of the project will be selected by the students.

Ethics and Design

ir. Marten Wiersma, M.Ed.

In this course the method of designing as a process is educated. In this process important steps are done before the hard design starts.

In general the design process is: think and find the best solution for a need. The thinking can be done in different ways. This difference is related to the complexity of the design process. The engineer is in between two groups: 

1. the prudence makers / managers and 
2. the consumers. 

The first group supposes that the responsibility of engineers is restricted to the technical choices they make. They believe that the consequences are not the responsibility of the engineers. The consumers expect from the engineer protection against failures and protection against harmful consequences of a design. In this sepa­rated field, the ethics show a way of handling this tension: the ethical aspects of design. What are the respon­sibilities of an engineer? We will see how the designer has to handle this conflict of interests. Tools for a sound reaction are educated, so that the designing engineer can take responsibility for his design. Designing medical devices and aids for healthy aging is directly linked to ethical decisions.

This makes clear that the design process depends on the designing person. A person in general has his own background, based on culture and personality. We will look at the differences between cultures and we will find out what the basic behaviour is of each person. It is important to recognise the differences between people and their solutions for a given problem.

For a good design you need to find the requirements of the user. Normally the user is not a technician. His requirements are given in a non-technical language, so it should be “translated” into technical requirements. The QFD is used as a tool to do this translation.

The design process starts with marketing and generating ideas and will go through 5 steps to realise the final product. We will introduce you to the methods of generating new ideas and of checking different solutions by means of statistical comparison.

After a design has been chosen, you have to check the design for its safety aspects. In this course we will introduce you to a method of checking the safety of the design by means of a “Failure Mode and Effect Analysis” (FMEA).

Of course it is important to have the best solution for a product. Therefore it is possible to check the functions in relation to the costs of that function. We will introduce you to the system of Value Analysis / Value engineering (VA/VE).

A good product can be produced and maintained when necessary. This requires special activities during the design process. We will show different solutions for different problems that occur during design (Design for Maintenance: DfM and other related tools in the DfXX category).

When a design is realised and a complete product is available, testing of the requirements is important. A few examples of testing are shown and how they can be used in daily practise of the designer.

Cognitive Ergonomics / User Centred Design

Richard Vos, M.Sc.

During this course we will go into the user’s side of development, we will explore who and what the engineers are working for. 

Now, we realize that anything can be made by now, and if not technologically doable today, it will be tomorrow. This makes that the ‘consumer’ industry in refocusing from technology driven design towards user-centred design. Yes, sustainability is also a buzzword these days, but think about it, does sustainable only mean degradable or reusable? No, of course not! If things need to be sustainable it means also that these products are used well and to the satisfaction of the customer / user.

The two days programme course Cognitive Ergonomics / User Centred Design (UCD) will focus on product development from an interaction design perspective in which insights from psychology and the domain of user interfaces will be applied. You will work in a project team towards a solution to a real world problem. A theoretic framework will be offered and several user-centred methods and techniques from the field of interaction design will be applied. In the end each team will present their solution.

The course will contain these topics: 

• Beyond usability; what the user really wants, but has not even thought of yet – lecture and workshops in which you will be introduced to the field of Human Technology interaction. You will have to try thinking the thoughts of your targeted user, understand the context of use, the human-product interaction, requirement specification, and more.
   
• Lectures will focus on cognitive ergonomics, user interfaces, principles of design, and, yes… bloopers. 

In addition, the second day we will start with cultural background presentations (for this part each nationality has to prepare a really smashing presentation). Afterwards we’ll be discussing intercultural differences and how we - and international product development - relate to these differences. 

Biomaterial Science: 
Fundamentals & Nanotechnological Applications

Ass.Prof. Dilek Çökeliler

During the last century, interest in biomaterials has grown from mere curiosity to routine clinical use, saving lives and improving the quality of life for millions of people. Today, biomaterials and medical devices are a $100 billion industry. This course will cover many fundamental areas such as: 

• An overview of the biomaterials field (definitions, etc.),
• The current status of the biomaterials field, 
• The properties of biomaterials that make them useful in medical (and clinical) applications, 
• Introduction to the major classes of biomedical materials: ceramics, metals, and polymers. Their structure, properties, and fabrication connected to biological applications, from implants to tissue engineered devices. 
• New trends and future prospects. 

Course Outline:
Material science and relation between medicine. Properties of polymeric, metallic and ceramic biomaterials. Natural biological materials. Artificial biologic materials. Applications of material sciences in biomedical engineering. Mechanics, corrosive and surface properties, tissue reactions of biomaterials. Medical applications of researches in material sciences. Synthesis of nanomaterials, nanoparticles and biomedical applications. Nanostructured coatings.