(132d) Capstone Project Design Experiences on Product Design

It is being claimed (Bagajewicz, 2005 AIChE Annual Meeting) that product design has to be merged with microeconomics process design and supply chain design. More specifically, it is suggested that pricing theory has to be used to determine profitability of potential new products. To do this, there is a need to establish consumer preferences and construct a consumer utility function that will measure satisfaction. In addition, supply chain considerations, market choices, manufacturing costs are to be considered which force cosidering the design of these parts. All these alter the product structure and/or composition. At the University of Oklahoma, capstone design projects have implemented these new ideas in a variety of products: skin lotions, wine, flame retardants, vaccines, medical devices, oxygen portable generators, perfumes and insect repellents. Results form these projects will be illustrated and teaching aspects will be discussed.