King's new design course shows how students are revolutionising design and make with AI

Celebrating the end of its first year, the newly created Computational Design for Manufacture module led by Dr Francesco Ciriello tasks students with designing a product that considers the environmental and economic impacts of its creation from design to production.

Over the course of ten weeks, students engaged in a multi-stage manufacturing project where they crafted the narrative of a product, wedding together generative design with computational manufacturing techniques.

The resulting design portfolios showcased analyses of the trade-offs between cost, sustainability, and performance of the components, ensuring students grappled with the multi-faceted challenges they would face in an engineering career, whilst also producing artifacts they could share with future employers.

To support their coursework, students also engaged with a series of hands-on manufacturing workshops on techniques such as milling, toolpath programming and mould design using industry-grade simulation and manufacturing equipment.

Students also looked to embed designing for sustainability principles in their work by using AI tools to produce a Digital Product Passport, an EU mandated digital identity card for products and components which allows for individuals and authorities to view the sustainability credentials of a product.

As part of the module’s focus on developing critical making skills needed to succeed in industry, in October this year students took a field trip to Autodesk’s Advanced Manufacturing Facilities in Birmingham for a firsthand look at industry-leading practices and technologies.

Commenting on the course and the value of the partnership with Autodesk, Dr Ciriello said: “Preparing our students for the rigours of a career in industry, giving them the skills to work critically at every stage of a product’s lifecycle and within the bounds of a changing technical and legal landscape is key to our work at King’s. Our work with the incredibly enthusiastic Autodesk Education team helped bring these new design practices to life for students and advance our technical capabilities for manufacturing.”

The project culminated in a November demonstration day, where students presented their innovative projects to an expert panel of judges from Autodesk, The Engineering & Design Institute, and MathWorks. The showcase featured impressive winning designs, including Lewis Matthews’ bike pedal and crank, Zihang Huang’s space rover and Alexander Gangji’s ice axe –each a reflection of the creativity and ingenuity of King’s students. 

Reflecting on the demonstration day, Charles Jones, Education Manager at Autodesk said, “I was really impressed with the quality of students work. King’s College London are a breath of fresh air, their whole approach pushes students to look at problems in the most holistic way possible.

“Innovative modules like these push students to explore the breadth of solutions available to them, so they can critically evaluate the steps they needed to take to create the best, most profitable and efficient product. I believe we will see greater need for engineers to understand all stages of the design and make process, and I believe courses like those delivered by King’s are equipping students to meet that need.”