MESSAGE FROM THE LOCAL ORGANIZING COMMITTEE

    The city of Aachen in the heart of Europe is a place full of cultural heritage which dates back to celtic, roman and german times. Aachen lies in a virtual valley, surrounded by fields, woods and hills near the nature reserves of the Ardennes and the Eifel. Close-by where three European countries meet - Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium – in Aachen, 31 Holy Roman Emperors were crowned Kings of Germans during the Middle Ages. Today, the city of Aachen is scene of the World Equestrian Festival (CHIO) as well as the European Charlemagne Award Ceremony. In a very special way the past and the future of European culture, politics and science are combined in the city of Aachen, leading to a unique and continuously growing hub of international reputation.
RWTH Aachen University was established in 1870 as polytechnic university and has a long history in Research and Education of Mechanical Engineering and Nature’s Sciences. Its Chair and Institute for Engineering Design (ikt) addresses the systematic approach of engineering methodology ever since. Within an interdisciplinary team, the ikt provides a practice orientated education based on distinct cooperation with international industry partners and application oriented specific research topics in the fields of innovation methodologies, engineering design, multi-material systems, eco-design and model-based systems engineering.
After the first meeting with Professor Otaka in 2015, there was no doubt that hosting the next ICDES in Aachen will be a great opportunity for the international community to exchange research results, ideas and to plan future collaborations. It is an honor to co-host the conference with the Japan Society for Design Engineering, which shares the same scientific values and research focus.
The large number of contribution proposals and the excellent selected papers will guarantee a very interesting conference and a strong stimulus for all participating researchers, students and industry representatives.
The local organizing Committee of the ICDES 2017 is looking forward to welcome you at Aachen and invites you to actively contribute to the success of our common symposium.

On behalf of the Local Organizing Committee,
Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jörg Feldhusen, Dean of the Faculty of Mechanical Engineering, RWTH Aachen University
Dr.-Ing. Manuel Löwer, Chair and Institute for Engineering Design (ikt), RWTH Aachen University