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Design Group

15 December 2023

UC's Design Group has a diverse range of research and development interests. We look at everything from design methodology and rapid product development to engineering art and kinetic sculptures. Our group has close ties with the Robotics, Instrumentation and Control, Applied Mechanics, and Manufacturing research groups. Check out the Design Group.

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The Design Group has a diverse range of research and development interests which include:

  • design methodology and rapid product development
  • feature-based design
  • computer-aided design
  • alternative engines and energy conversion systems
  • engine and vehicle test plant
  • human-powered vehicles and human ergometry
  • mobility aids for disabled people
  • bio-medical equipment
  • specialist industrial machines
  • water jets
  • robotic prostheses
  • workplace hazard management
  • industrial acoustics
  • engineering art and kinetic sculptures. 

The group has close ties with other groups, including Robotics, Instrumentation and Control, Applied Mechanics and Manufacturing.

  • Keith Alexander
    Mechanical engineering design, water jets, high-speed sailing, amphibious craft, engineering art.
  • Don Clucas 
  • Shayne Gooch
    Design methodology, machine design, vibration of linear mechanical systems.
  • John Pearse
    Plant design, project engineering, acoustics, biomedical engineering.

  • Acoustic design of microphone systems
  • Adaptive self tuning controller for Froude F18 dynamometer testbed
  • Advanced absorber design
  • Amphibious vehicle design
  • An optimised burner-recuperator system for a 4 cycle double acting Stirling engine
  • Automatic guided vehicle control dynamics
  • Avalanche prediction instrumentation
  • Computer aided process planning and fixture design
  • Design and development of human-powered and electrically-assisted human-powered vehicles
  • Design and development of Stirling engines
  • Development of a methodology for system integrity in design
  • Development of force sensing systems for bio-medical research
  • Dextrous finger optimisation
  • Direct computer aided design using expert systems techniques
  • Endo-prosthetic knee joint development
  • Engineering analysis and design scale-up of Len Lye kinetic sculptures
  • Grinding sludge oil recovery system - feasibility study
  • Human ergometry in rowing
  • Improving hovercraft noise and efficiency
  • Lifting paddlewheel prototype
  • Micro hydro development
  • Road simulation software and vehicle energy consumption measurement
  • Rule-based systems as tools for adaptive design tasks and their integration into CAD
  • Simulation of vehicle-pedestrian impacts
  • Stirling cycle refrigeration
  • Theoretical modelling and dynamic simulation of variable fill hydraulic dynamometers
  • Trampoline safety by design
  • Vehicle crash analysis and reconstruction
  • Vibration isolating ambulance stretcher suspension
  • Workflow process management for collaborative design
  • Special machine design for sculpting foam material in 3D

Postgraduate Research Projects available

If the activities of the Design Group are of interest to you, and you are in possession (or about to be) of a good Honours degree in Mechanical Engineering, please contact:

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