Product Engineering: Eco-Design, Technologies and Green Energy

This book contains an edited version of the lectures and selected contributions presented during the Advanced Summer Institute on “Product Engineering: Eco-Design, Technologies and Green Energy” organized at the st Transilvania University of Brasov (Romania) in the period 14-21 of July 2004. The Advanced Summer Institute (ASI) was organized in the framework of the European FP5 funded project “ADEPT – Advanced computer aided Design of Ecological Products and Technologies integrating green energy sources” and was devoted to the Product Engineering field, with particular attention to the aspects related to the environmentally conscious design and green energy sources. The objective of the ASI was to create the framework for meeting of leading scientists with PhD holders and advanced PhD students carrying out research in the field of Eco-Design, CAD, Simulation technologies, Robotics, Manufacturing and green energy sources. The aim was to create conditions for high level training through a series of 15 invited lectures presented by world reputed scientists, as well as to give possibilities for young researchers to present their achievements and to establish professional contacts. The ASI was seen also as an opportunity for academics, practitioners and consultants from Europe and elsewhere who are involved in the study, management, development and implementation of product engineering principles in the learning and teaching sectors, as well as professionals to come together and share ideas on projects and examples of best practice.

This book contains an edited version of the lectures and selected contributions presented during the Advanced Summer Institute on "Product Engineering: Eco-Design, Technologies and Green Energy" organized at the Transilvania University of Brasov, Romania, July 14-21, 2004.

In the last few decades Product Engineering has become a multidisciplinary field including aspects from a wide range of scientific areas. Aspects related to eco-design, aesthetic style, human factors and ergonomics are now critical issues for the success of a product on the market. It has been shown that these apparently separate fields of research belong to the same multidisciplinary mainstream of Product Engineering and cannot progress unless an integrated approach is adopted. New advances are now likely to produce changes in the entire product life cycle chain. This is often illustrated within this book by similar methodologies used for different goals, e.g. the Virtual Engineering techniques in general, which are multi-purpose technologies or the recent interest raised by the particle based models for CAD and simulation purposes.

The volume is divided into five main parts, covering the topics of Eco-Design, Computer Aided Design, Simulation Technologies, Robotics and Manufacturing and Green Energy.

Audience: This work will be of interest to a wide range of readers, from students to graduates, and from industrial experts to researchers active in the field of Product Engineering.