Advancing engineering design methods so that solutions lead to improved social and environmental outcomes

The Burleson Global Design Group seeks to advance engineering design methods so that solutions lead to improved social and environmental outcomes. Through experimental and ethnographic human subjects research, our goals focus on developing new engineering design methods across all design stages, including problem framing, decision making, requirements engineering, detailed design, and validation. We study a variety of engineering domains (including healthcare, energy, water, and information technology) across many contexts locally, nationally, and internationally.

Our work aims to shift the engineering field’s focus to society’s most pressing challenges (which are sometimes called “wicked problems”), with special attention to the needs and aspirations of historically-excluded communities. The decisions that engineers make throughout design processes have serious implications on a variety of outcomes—not only product performance—but also social outcomes, environmental impact, community wellbeing, public trust, and economic viability.