**Author details**

**Figure 10.** Complete visual representation of the vehicle bionic developed with two chromatic versions of the Biocross

Responding to the desired requirement that calls for reducing the environmental impact of the materials used bio-polymer (PLA) Ingeo Biopolymer 3251 was selected, which is also

The need for evaluation and validation during the development of bionic design projects en‐ abling to measure product success in meeting efficiency targets and proposed requirements, was one of the evident missing features of previously existing methodologies for bionic de‐ sign and which were met with the proposed methodology. Besides these aspects, the pro‐ posed method is also intended to support an iterative approach in conducting design projects in order to achieve optimal results and correct the detected deviations meeting the proposed objectives and needs. Implementation of the proposed method in practice aims its validation and also confirmation of the gains introduced in projects that follow the method‐ ology for the process of design with inspiration taken from Nature. This is explicit from the results obtained during the two projects, which in addition to validate the method, serve as

Bionic design, a discipline capable of enriching projects with gains in efficiency, aesthetics and sustainability and with a wide margin for improvement and with a whole world where inspiration can be reaped from, will certainly bring benefits to designers in the future devel‐ opment of their concepts and their research. One of the studies included in this theme that could be accomplished in the future, with the objective of its development and expansion, would be an empirical study made by surveying designers in businesses that would allow identifying the actors who make use of the bionic methodology, principles and approach in everyday professional life. With the same objective, the application of a methodology for comparative analysis of the gains brought by bionics to a wide range of products would be equally interesting. It is also important to note that the method presented in this work, like any other, is not considered perfect or timeless. The evolution of scientific and biological knowledge, emerging technologies and the principles of sustainability provide new insights

used in the design of the first bionic project described in this chapter.

bionic pedals vehicle.

**4. Concluding remarks**

26 Advances in Industrial Design Engineering

a complement to present the method.

Carlos A. M. Versos and Denis A. Coelho

Universidade da Beira Interior, Portugal

### **References**


[5] Colombo, B. (2007). 'Biomimetic design for new technological developments' in Sal‐ mi, E., Stebbing, P., Burden G., Anusionwu, L. (Eds) Cumulus Working Papers, Hel‐ sinki, Finland: University of Art and Design Helsinki, pp. 29-36.

**Chapter 2**

**Design Thinking in Conceptual Design Processes: A**

**Students**

Hao Jiang and Ching-Chiuan Yen

http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/52460

**1. Introduction**

Additional information is available at the end of the chapter

thinking styles and the associated design strategies.

**Comparison Between Industrial and Engineering Design**

Design thinking is one of the most important issues in the fields of design research, as design expertise and creativity are mainly manifested through designers' cognitive processes when they are undertaking design activities, in particular during conceptual design stages [1, 2]. Majority of the design research community tend to model design thinking as a style of thinking underlining all design domains/disciplines, and complementary to scientific thinking and other non-design thinking [3-6]. Designing in fact comprises of various activities of multifac‐ eted nature [7]. Variations of the thinking styles between different types of designers have been reported in many empirical design studies [e.g., 8 - 10]. Literature suggests that tertiary educational programs may contribute to the characteristics of thinking styles. Lawson's study indicates that design thinking may relate to learnt behaviors [7, 11]. Senior undergraduate architecture and science students demonstrated distinct problem solving strategies, while such disciplinary difference was not observed between first-year undergraduate architecture students and high school students [11]. Following the same rationale, this paper is interested in identifying possible effects of different design programs on shaping students' design

**2. Two design programs in the National University of Singapore (NUS)**

Designing is a complex human activity and encompasses a series of complex interactions between many factors or variables. Controlling some of those variables becomes necessary to provide a meaningful dataset to work with. This paper focuses on design thinking in concep‐

and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

© 2013 Jiang and Yen; licensee InTech. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2013 Jiang and Yen; licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution,

© 2013 Jiang and Yen; licensee InTech. This is a paper distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

