Human-powered aircraft, such as the NASA/MIT Daedalus 88 pictured above, present significant materials selection challenges. In his class project, student John Decker Ringo looked at materials selection techniques for the wing spar of a new human-powered aircraft design. (Photo by Beasley. Courtesy of NASA.)
Instructor(s)
Dr. Abbas Sadeghzadeh Milani
MIT Course Number
2.994
As Taught In
January IAP 2007
Level
Graduate
Course Description
Course Highlights
This course features a list of book and article readings, a take-home exam, and examples of student projects.
Course Description
This course begins with a comparative review of conventional and advanced multiple attribute decision making (MADM) models in engineering practice. Next, a new application of particular MADM models in reliable material selection of sensitive structural components as well as a multi-criteria Taguchi optimization method is discussed. Other specific topics include dealing with uncertainties in material properties, incommensurability in decision-makers opinions for the same design, objective ways of weighting performance indices, rank stability analysis, compensations and non-compensations.
This course is offered during the Independent Activities Period (IAP), which is a special 4-week term at MIT that runs from the first week of January until the end of the month.