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Welcome to the Institute of Design, Materials and Fabrication

The Institute of Design, Materials and Fabrication (IDMF) was founded in July 2013 in collaboration with Prof. Shea, Prof. Ermanni and Prof. Meboldt. End of 2021 Prof. Tilley joined IDMF.

IDMF focuses on Engineering Design as a fundamental discipline within Mechanical Engineering including novel material systems, design methodology, methods and tools, development of innovative technical solutions and novel fabrication processes. IDMF will develop new synergies in research and industrial collaboration as well as in the Engineering Design education at MAVT.

It currently consists of four independent laboratories.


Engineering Design and Computing Laboratory

Design Heuristics for AM

Our research merges engineering design, computation and fabrication to design and prototype creative engineering systems with new functionalities. Current topics include computational design, design for Additive Manufacturing (AM), multi-material AM and 4D printing as well as new research in development engineering.

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Laboratory of Composite Materials and Adaptive Structures

Enlarged view: CMAS Phononic crystal

Our group is focusing on design, modeling and fabrication of adaptive material systems and composites structures for application in lightweight systems. Our approach combines experimental techniques, analytical and numerical methods to understand, to simulate and to verify the physical behavior of the developed solutions.

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Product Development Group Zurich

Enlarged view: PDZ_Schneidkopf

We at the Product Development Group Zurich (pd|z) focus on human-centred product development and regard the link between research and education as the key to excellence in training. We see ourselves as a partner for industry and promote the continuous transfer of knowledge through cooperation, as well as the training and further education of students and graduates to strengthen the competitiveness of mechanical engineering industry.

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Global Health Engineering

GHE research

While the field of Global Health seeks to address the drivers and outcomes of well-​being for international populations from a medical or epidemiological perspective, Global Health Engineering addresses determinants of health as a function of engineered interventions and systems. Our work looks at ways of reducing the negative impacts of modern life, particularly in urban areas of over-​exploited countries. Our research seeks to reduce the negative impacts of improperly managed human, organic, and anthropogenic waste while ensuring that solutions are affordable, effective, and acceptable to users.

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