Panos Y. Papalambros

Optimal Design Laboratory • University of Michigan

I work in design optimization of products and systems,  and in advancing design as a holistic yet scientific discipline, integrating practice-based thinking with science-based understanding. Through my research and teaching, I have aimed to establish the scholarship and use of mathematical design optimization as a standard tool in modern design practice and on how it serves society.

 In extensive collaboration with industry and government agencies, I have worked on design optimization for advanced automotive systems, including electric and hybrid powertrains and structural design, and linked them with product development, commercial, and regulatory decisions to derive business and government policies.  The Analytical Target Cascading (ATC) method developed in our Optimal Design Laboratory is the first proven globally convergent multi-level coordination algorithm for multidisciplinary optimization, considering both organizational and computational complexity.  

In our design science research, we have studied design preference elicitation and modeling, and linked engineering design models with those from marketing, behavioral and social science, and economics. 


NOTE TO STUDENTS  

The 'emeritus' title means I am officially retired and I have limited my 'normal' faculty activities.  I no longer advise new PhD students and my research activities are limited primarily to design for sustainable development, involving masters and undergraduate students, and collaborating with other faculty particularly based in Africa..