Welcome to the
Computational Design Lab
We are looking for postdoctoral researchers, PhD students, and research interns — see our openings!
The CDL research activities are in the area of Computational Design and Synthesis of Mechanical Systems. In particular, our research focuses on the development of new engineering models, representations, algorithms, and design semantics to enable systematic, and efficient design, analysis and manufacturing of engineering artifacts.
Some of Our Current Projects
(also see our publications)

A Universal Framework for Geometric Information in Product Development
Maximal Ball Disjoint Decompositions discretize a given shape in a unique and complete decomposition of maximal spheres. This geometric representation has broad applications in downstream engineering applications.

Optimization of Complex Systems
Simultaneous Packaging and Routing of Complex Interconnected Systems. Independently, each problem is known to be NP-hard. Solving the combined problem is a particularly interesting and challenging task.

Manufacturability Search
FINDFabs: Searching The Universe of Manufactured Parts. Identifying potential manufacturers of existing designs by scanning the distributed information of geometric models using manufacturing-specific similarity metrics.

Nano Machines
Systematic Design, Analysis and Control of Manufacturable Nano Machines. Discover, design, and synthesize robotic molecular agents whose motion is predictable and controllable.
Horea Ilies
University of Connecticut
- (2000) Ph.D. ME, Wisconsin
- (1995) M.S. Mechanics, MSU
- (1993) Dipl. Engr., ME, Romania