The growing demand for innovative and user-centric product design has led to a growing need for effective idea generation methods. In recent years, natural language processing (NLP) tools such as ChatGPT have emerged as a promising solution for supporting idea generation in various domains. This paper investigates a framework for studying the role of ChatGPT in facilitating the ideation process in product design. This investigation measures the impact of ChatGPT on the generation of innovative concepts compared to the use of “classic” design methods. An overview of the state-of-the-art idea generation methods in product design opens the paper. Then, the paper highlights some hypotheses about the impact of ChatGPT on innovative product design, aiming for product augmentation by adding features. The paper then describes the design experience in which ChatGPT is used as a tool for concept generation. Finally, the paper analyzes the dataset, using precise metrics to characterize the participants’ performance and compare them. This analysis allows the paper to argue about the validation/rejection of the hypotheses. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings and some suggestions for future research. Along with the paper, the Microsoft Excel workbook used to perform the data analysis is available to the readers to perform their own data collection and analysis. The workbook UX has been carefully studied and developed to make it usable by anyone. At the same time, it should be flexible enough to manage several situations characterized by different numbers of participants, product functions to implement, and generated concepts.

The use of large language models (LLMs) is now spreading in several areas of research and development. This work is concerned with systematically reviewing LLMs’ involvement in engineering education. Starting from a general research question, two queries were used to select 370 papers from the literature. Filtering them through several inclusion/exclusion criteria led to the selection of 20 papers. These were investigated based on eight dimensions to identify areas of engineering disciplines that involve LLMs, where they are most present, how this involvement takes place, and which LLM-based tools are used, if any. Addressing these key issues allowed three more specific research questions to be answered, offering a clear overview of the current involvement of LLMs in engineering education. The research outcomes provide insights into the potential and challenges of LLMs in transforming engineering education, contributing to its responsible and effective future implementation. This review’s outcomes could help address the best ways to involve LLMs in engineering education activities and measure their effectiveness as time progresses. For this reason, this study addresses suggestions on how to improve activities in engineering education. The systematic review on which this research is based conforms to the rules of the current literature regarding inclusion/exclusion criteria and quality assessments in order to make the results as objective as possible and easily replicable.

Additive manufacturing represents one of the most promising and innovative technologies of the moment. In fact, it is considered among the nine technological pillars on which Industry 4.0 is based. In particular, it has received a lot of interest from industries, educational institutions and government agencies. For these reasons, it is necessary to develop and train a specialised workforce and to prepare it for these new opportunities. This work aims to investigate, through the completion of a survey based on a systematic review of the literature, the current state of education and dissemination of educational practices related to the training of young engineers at university on the issues of additive manufacturing and related to Industry 4.0. The results show that the introduction of additive manufacturing education represents an important leverage in the preparation of young engineers who benefit from it both in terms of personal preparation and in terms of learning and refining different skills. However, certain aspects, linked to the need to have adequate equipment and a properly trained teaching staff, should not be overlooked.

Computed tomography is a medical instrument that can be useful not only for diagnostic purposes, but also for surgical planning, thanks to the fact that it offers volumetric information which can be translated in three dimensional models. These models can be visualized, but also exported to Rapid Prototyping (RP) systems, that can produce these structures thanks to the rapidity and versatility of the technologies involved. The literature reports various cases of stereolithographic models used in orthopedic, neurological, and maxillo-facial surgery. In these contexts, the availability of a copy of the real anatomy allows not only planning, but also the practical execution of surgical operations, within the limitations of the materials. Nevertheless, the Rapid Prototyping model also presents some disadvantages that can be reduced if practical simulation is accompanied by virtual simulation, performed on a digital model. The purpose of this work is to examine and present the use of Virtual Reality (VR) and Rapid Prototyping for surgical planning in Maxillo-Facial surgery.