Congratulations to former BESTie Dr. Jon Cagan who has been inducted into the National Academy of Engineering.
Cagan pioneered the field of computational design synthesis, merging methods for design representation, generation and search into a formal process. He has made ground breaking contributions to grammar-based configuration design and AI-based design algorithms. In design practice, Cagan pioneered the formalization of innovation methods bringing a user-centered approach to engineering design driven by customer value and emotions. His product design textbooks have been widely used in teaching and industry practice. He pioneered the interdisciplinary Master of Product Development (MPD) professional program at CMU.
Cagan is one of the most highly cited researchers in the field of design theory and methodology. Cagan’s research in product layout led to creation of DesignAdvance Systems and commercial product CircuitSpace, an automated PCB layout system used by hundreds of companies worldwide, winning 2006 DesignVision award by International Engineering Consortium. His design tradebooks have impacted product development practice, giving structure and formality to the early stages of product development. His pioneered MPD program curricula has been used as model by other academic institutions.
Cagan was the elected Chair of ASME Design Theory and Methodology Committee in its early years of establishment. He co-founded the company DesignAdvance Systems to commercialize his invention. Cagan served as product development consultant and gave seminars at many companies, and was expert witness in significant product development cases. He was interviewed by many first-rate design magazines such as Fast Company, Forbes, and NAE Engineering Innovation Podcast and Radio Series. He served as the Interim Dean at CMU and directed significant entrepreneurship activities.
Cagan served on the Advisory Board of Design Society (the largest international society in field) for many years. He has served on multiple advisory boards for (international and domestic) universities and companies. He has served as associated editors for four major journals in the design research field and served on the advisory board for four other journals. At CMU, he played leadership roles at the college level and served as Co-Directors for the Swartz Center for Entrepreneurship and the Integrated Innovation Institute.
Jon is a dynamic researcher, he is constantly on the roll, exploring new topics, and most importantly leading the way! I can’t think of any other design researchers who have won so many Best Paper Awards in the field (he has more than 12 Best Paper and Reviewers’ Favorite Awards in major design conferences). From configuration design, to agent-based synthesis, shape grammars, then to consumer preference modeling, wind farm layout, and to his most recent work on computational model of design team and design of biological systems, Jon has played the critical role of technical leader in identifying new, emerging topics for design research.
Jon is one of the few design researchers who have successfully bridged the gap between qualitative and quantitative methods in design research. This is evident in his accomplishments in both the fields of “Design Theory & Methodology” and “Design Automation”. Automation of design techniques for conceptual design is one of the most challenging topics in design research for which Jon has been considered as a world leading expert.
Jon has also made profound contributions to design education and design practice through publishing text books and numerous consultant services to helping companies develop winning products. I have invited Jon a few times to give talks in the Segal Design Institute at Northwestern. His talk has always been well received not only by colleagues in engineering, but also by design colleagues from other disciplines, e.g., industrial design, human-computer interface, and architecture. Jon is one of the few skillful engineering design researchers who understand how to communicate with the broader design community.
Jon’s education impact is also evident in the large number of PhD students who he has shaped to become successful design faculty. He is an inspiration and role model others in the field.