Sveuciliste u Zagrebu

The University of Zagreb is the flagship educational institution in the country with 31 faculties, 3 academies of arts and various university centres and departments. As a comprehensive public Central European university, UNIZAG offers educational programmes in all scientific fields (arts, biomedicine, biotechnology, engineering, humanities, natural and social sciences) and a wide range of courses at all levels of study, from undergraduate to postgraduate, for more than 70,000 students. The University excels not only in teaching but also in research, contributing over 50 percent of Croatia’s annual research output. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture (UNIZAG-FSB) is one of the organisational units of the University of Zagreb and is the direct successor of the High Technical School established in 1919. At present, it accepts 485 students every academic year in the study courses Mechanical Engineering, Naval Architecture and Aeronautical Engineering and employs about 250 teaching and research staff. The activities of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture cover a very wide field of both theoretical and practical solutions in various fields of design, production and maintenance of mechanical, aeronautical, and marine structures and systems. Scientific activities, which constitute a major part of the activities at FSB, are carried out through many national science and technology projects. As a result, there is close cooperation between UNIZAG-FSB and over 70 scientific and educational institutions. The Faculty of Mechanical Engineering and Naval Architecture at the University of Zagreb as a research/educational institution houses the Chair of Design and Product Development, which is responsible for a general area of design and development of
technical systems and will lead this proposal within UNIZAG-FSB. The primary objective of the Chair is to develop the creative and innovative potential of students of mechanical engineering, naval architecture, and aerospace engineering through a series of courses that include methodological design, development of innovative products and services, and computer-based tools to support the development process. During the undergraduate study, the Chair offers courses on the most advanced methods, tools and practical and theoretical knowledge used in the design and development of technical systems. At the graduate level of the study program, a number of special courses are offered, focusing on the integration and application of the acquired knowledge through project work, and thesis topics are regularly real problems from industry.

The chair is also responsible for several courses at the doctoral level. These courses focus on the modelling of complex socio-technical systems, design theories and advanced methods and models for information management in the development of technical systems. The focus of the Chair’s teaching is the CDIO (Conceive- Design- Implement- Operate) initiative for the education of future engineers, which includes the acquisition of knowledge and skills for the understanding, design, implementation, and operation of technical systems through project and teamwork. The scientific work of the Chair and the cooperation with industry through a number of R&D projects follow next topics: Extension of the CAD/PDM/PLM models with elements of engineering knowledge; formal modelling of engineering processes; modelling the evolution of traceability of engineering information; optimization of the shape and structure of complex technical systems by using
genetic and evolutionary algorithms; evaluation and selection of ideas in the fuzzy front-end of product development; modelling socio-technical systems in engineering by applying complex networks; measuring and monitoring intangible performance indicators of teams developing technical systems; modelling and simulating the interactions of teams developing technical systems.

From 2014 to 2024, the Chair of Design and Product Development was involved in ERASMUS+ NARIP, CASPROD, ELPID, CRESDET, PROHACKIN and DETAILLs projects. NARIP had three consecutive (but unique and independent) industryoriented courses on new product development in a virtual environment. The main goal of the CASPROD project was to develop and get accreditation for a joint master curriculum of Smart Product Development at three academic partner organisations from Croatia, Slovenia, and Austria. The underlying idea of the ELPID project was to enhance the existing elearning infrastructure used within project-based learning courses in product development and to develop a methodology for its customisation and implementation in other courses. The goal of the CRESDET project was to develop a framework, a knowledge hub and practice-oriented guidelines for the rapid adaptation and digitisation of lectures in case of a crisis. The PROHACKIN project aimed at developing a methodology that encourages open innovation between universities and companies by implementing product hackathons in the otherwise linear product development process. Finally, the ongoing DETAILLs project emphasizes a focus on sustainability, AI, and practical implementation for developing sustainable solutions.

Throughout these projects, participating teachers and students have been developing the skills of 21st-century engineers capable of effectively addressing challenges in the new product development process focusing on smart and sustainable industry. They learned how to use methods and tools of the latest computer technologies and achieve seamless humantechnology interaction at the highest level. The developed intellectual outputs serve as a comprehensive source of information for further cooperation, significantly impact specific design project courses and improve existing e-learning support for project-based learning in general.Key staff involved:

Prof. Mario Štorga is involved in teaching as part of the undergraduate and postgraduate courses at UNIZAG-FSB in the areas of product development, design methods and tools, and AI in design. He was the primary investigator and project coordinator of several national (CSF) and European research (EUREKA) and educational (ERASMUS+) projects. Since 2015 he has been appointed as visiting professor at Lulea University of Technology, Sweden.

Prof. Stanko Škec was the project coordinator for the ERASMUS+ ELPID project. In addition to his scientific and professional work, Dr Škec is involved in teaching as part of the undergraduate and postgraduate courses at UNIZAG-FSB in the areas of CAD modelling, product development and design theories. He participated in several national (CSF) and European research (EUREKA, HORIZON 2020) and educational (ERASMUS+) projects. In the period March 2018 – September 2019, he was appointed as visiting professor at the Technical University of Denmark in Copenhagen. He was a visiting researcher at Ecole Centrale Paris, the University of Bristol and The University of British Columbia.

Dr. Tomislav Martinec works as an assistant professor at UNIZAG-FSB, where he is involved in teaching courses such as Product development, Engineering design methods and tools, and Computer-aided design. His scientific focus is on design process modelling and the use of digital technologies in design. He participated in several national research projects (CSF), ERASMUS+ projects and R&D projects.