A. Emrah Bayrak

Assistant Professor, Stevens Institute of Technology

Smart Design for Smart Future

Desire for a smarter future has been driving the evolution of systems recently. Many systems fail in this evolution with natural selection due to inadequate adaptation to the changing needs of the society. To survive in this evolution, not only the systems should be “smart” in their operation but also the design processes should be “smart” in their decision-making methods. Smart design engages people to learn needs, preferences and intuitive thought processes and leverages this knowledge with computational tools in an adaptive decision-making process. Both technical and human factors must be accounted for to develop systems that will be better integrated into our lives. The goal of the smart design research should be developing forward looking processes that do not react to the evolution but rather define how the evolution should be.

Toward that goal, my research looks into integrating design with controls and machine learning to bridge computational and crowdsourcing approaches in decision-making processes that can address the needs of a smart future. I am interested in systems that operate autonomously and systems that work with people in tandem under complex dynamic environments.

Latest news:

Looking for self-motivated PhD students to join my group in the School of Systems and Enterprises at Stevens Institute of Technology.

Are you interested in joining my group?

Send me an email including:
your research interests
how you fit into the research portfolio described on this website.
your cv
your math and programming background

Education.

Research.


Human-Artificial Intelligence Teams

Design of collaboration architectures for human and artificial intelligence to solve complex dynamic problems as a team

coming soon

Crowdsourced Design with Online Games

Understanding human interactions and thought processes from online video games to develop smart systems

coming soon

Design of Active System Architectures

Integration of physical and control system design to architect active systems that respond to changes in their surroundings in real time

coming soon

Autonomous System Design

Defining and quantifying autonomy in engineering systems and exploring the boundaries to understand the limits its benefits

coming soon

I am interested in bridging computational and crowdsourcing approaches to develop optimal design methodologies for smart systems considering both technical and human factors.

Publications.

Robustness and Real Options for Vehicle Design and Investment Decisions under Gas Price and Regulatory Uncertainties

Journal of Mechanical Design, 140 (10): 101404, 2018

Manufacturers must decide when to invest and launch a new vehicle segment or how to redesign vehicles existing segment under market uncertainties. We present an optimization framework for redesigning or investing in future vehicles using real options to address uncertainty in gas price and regulatory standards like the US Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standard. In a specific study involving a product of gasoline, hybrid electric, and electric vehicles, we examine the relationship between gas price and CAFE uncertainties to support decisions by manufacturers on product mix and by policy makers on proposing standards. A real options model is used for the time delay on investment, redesign, and pricing, integrated with a robust design formulation to optimize expected net present value (ENPV) and net present value (NPV) robustness. Results for nine different scenarios suggest that policy makers should consider gas price when setting CAFE standards; and manufactur- ers should consider the trade-off between ENPV and robust NPVs. Results also suggest that change of product mix rather than vehicle redesign better addresses CAFE standards inflation.

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Multiobjective Optimization of Modular Design Concepts for a Collection of Interacting Systems

Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 57 (1) : 83-94, 2018

A collection of interacting systems, such as a fleet of military vehicles, can have a life-cycle benefit from sharing interoperable modules. Defining the modules that maximize such benefits must be addressed at the early stages of system design. We present a multi-objective optimization framework for conceptual modular design. We use a functional representation of the supersystem, i.e., the interacting systems collection, to make module design decisions informed by supersystem requirements and life-cycle objectives. The resultant modules are configured into a variety of architectures and form a set of systems with distinct capabilities that meet supersystem requirements. We apply this approach on a fleet of military vehicles. Computational results quantify the intuition that designing a large number of smaller modules reduces overall fleet weight and increases required personnel resources because of larger demand for vehicle reconfiguration.

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EcoRacer: Game-based Optimal Electric Vehicle Design and Driver Control Using Human Players

Journal of Mechanical Design, 138 (6) : 061407, 2016

We compare the performance of human players against that of the efficient global optimization (EGO) algorithm for an NP-complete powertrain design and control problem. Specifically, we cast this optimization problem as an online competition and received 2391 game plays by 124 anonymous players during the first month from launch. We found that while only a small portion of human players can outperform the algorithm in the long term, players tend to formulate good heuristics early on that can be used to constrain the solution space. Such constraining of the search enhances algorithm efficiency, even for different game settings. These findings indicate that human-assisted computational searches are promising in solving comprehensible yet computationally hard optimal design and control problems, when human players can outperform the algorithm in a short term.

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Robustness and Real Options for Vehicle Design and Investment Decisions under Gas Price and Regulatory Uncertainties

Kang N., Bayrak A. E., Papalambros P. Y.
Journal of Mechanical Design, 140 (10) : 101404, 2018.

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Real-time Teaming of Multiple Reconfigurable Manufacturing Systems

Li X., Bayrak A. E., Epureanu B., Koren Y.
CIRP Annals, 67 (1): 437-440, 2018.

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A System-of-Systems Approach to the Strategic Feasibility of Modular Vehicle Fleets

Bayrak A.E., Egilmez M. M., Kuang H., Li X., Park J. M., Umpfenbach E., Anderson E., Gorsich D., Hu J., Papalambros P. Y., Epureanu B.
IEEE Transactions on Systems Man and Cybernetics: Systems, 2018.
doi: 10.1109/TSMC.2018.2827387.

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Multiobjective Optimization of Modular Design Concepts for a Collection of Interacting Systems

Bayrak A.E., Collopy A.X., Papalambros P.Y., and Epureanu B.
Structural and Multidisciplinary Optimization, 57 (1): 83-94, 2018.

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An Integrated Design Approach for Evaluating the Effectiveness and Cost of a Fleet

D’Souza K., Bayrak A.E., Kang N., Wang H., Altin B., Barton K., Hu J., Papalambros P.Y., Epureanu B., and Gerth R.
Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation, 13 (4) : 381-397, 2016

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Topology Generation for Hybrid Electric Vehicle Architecture Design

Bayrak A.E., Ren Y., and Papalambros P.Y.
Journal of Mechanical Design, 138 (8) : 081401, 2016

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Decomposition-Based Design Optimization of Hybrid Electric Powertrain Architectures: Simultaneous Configuration and Sizing Design

Bayrak A.E., Kang N., and Papalambros P.Y.
Journal of Mechanical Design, 138 (7) : 071405, 2016

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EcoRacer: Game-based Optimal Electric Vehicle Design and Driver Control Using Human Players

Ren Y., Bayrak A.E., and Papalambros P.Y.
Journal of Mechanical Design, 138 (6) : 061407, 2016

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Electric Vehicle Design Optimization: Integration of a High-fidelity Interior Permanent-Magnet Motor Model

Ahn, K., Bayrak A.E., and Papalambros, P.Y.
IEEE Transactions on Vehicular Technology, 64 (9) : 3870 - 3877, 2015

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Operational and Strategic Decisions in Engineering Design Games

Grogan P., Bayrak A. E.
ASME IDETC, Quebec City, CN, August 26-27, 2018.

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A Sensitivity Based Heuristic For Optimal Blade Arrangement In A Linear Mistuned Rotor

Mitra M., Bayrak A. E., Zucca S., Epureanu B.
ASME Turbo Expo, Oslo, Norway, Jun 11-15 2018

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Integrated System Design of a Modular, Autonomous, Aerial and Ground Vehicle Fleet for Disaster Relief Missions - A Case Study

Gärtner, A. C., Ferriero, D., Bayrak, A. E., Papalambros, P. Y.
15th International Design Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, May 21-24 2018

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Framing the Concept of Autonomy in System Design

Beernaert, T. F., Bayrak, A. E., Etman, L. F. P., Papalambros, P. Y.
15th International Design Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, May 21-24 2018

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An Optimal Modular Design Concept Generation Method for Interacting Systems

Bayrak A. E., Collopy A. X., Epureanu B., Papalambros P. Y.
WCSMO, Braunschweig, Germany, Jun 5-9 2017


Effects of Supply Route Characteristics on Modular Military Fleet Operations

Egilmez M. M., Park J. M., Bayrak A. E., Epureanu B., and Papalambros P.
2016 ICPR-AEM and 4th QIEM, Cluj-Napoca Romania, July 25-30, 2016


A Real Options Approach to Hybrid Electric Vehicle Architecture Design for Flexibility

Kang, N., Bayrak, A.E., and Papalambros, P.Y.
ASME IDETC, Charlotte, NC, August 21-24, 2016.

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A Computational Concept Generation Method for a Modular Vehicle Fleet Design

Bayrak, A.E., Collopy, A.X., Epureanu B., and Papalambros, P.Y.
IEEE Sys Con, Orlando FL, April 18-21, 2016.

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Decomposition Based Design Optimization of Hybrid Electric Powertrain Architectures: Simultaneous Configuration and Sizing Design

Bayrak, A.E., Kang, N., and Papalambros, P.Y.
ASME IDETC, Boston MA, Aug 2-Aug 5, 2015

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EcoRacer: Game-based Optimal Electric Vehicle Design and Driver Control Using Human Players

Ren Y., Bayrak A.E., and Papalambros P.Y.
ASME IDETC, Boston MA, Aug 2-Aug 5, 2015 (Received Ford best paper award in 2015 ASME Design Automation Conference)

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Optimal Dual-Mode Hybrid Electric Vehicle Powertrain Architecture Design for a Variety of Loading Scenarios

Bayrak, A.E., Ren, Y. and Papalambros, P.Y.
ASME IDETC, Buffalo NY, Aug 17-Aug 20, 2014

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Optimal Design of Hybrid-Electric Vehicle Architectures Using Auto-Generation of Feasible Driving Modes

Bayrak, A.E., Ren, Y., and Papalambros, P.Y.
ASME IDETC, Portland OR, Aug 4-Aug 7, 2013

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Teaching.

Contact.

ebayrak@stevens.edu
  • Babbio Center 5th Floor,
  • School of Systems and Enterprises,
  • Stevens Institute of Technology,
  • Hoboken, NJ 07030