Dr Claudia Eckert PhD, MSc

Photo of Claudia Eckert

Claudia Eckert joined the Engineering Design Centre in January 1999 as a Research Associate on the Signposting Project, concentrating on knowledge acquisition and the use of design guidelines. Her previous work concentrated on intelligent support systems for knitwear design, beginning with a simple prototype for her M.Sc. thesis. In her Ph.D thesis, entitled "Intelligent Support for Knitwear Design", she looked at how automatic design can overcome communication difficulties in multi-disciplinary design teams. The work included a large ethnographic study of the knitwear industry in Britain, Germany and Italy, which produced a detailed design process model and an analysis of the causes of communication problems within design teams. From 1996 to 1998, she initiated and conducted an ESRC funded research project entitled Mechanisms of Inspiration in Novel Design, studying how sources of inspiration are used in knitwear design. In 1998 the Open University funded her project to develop a prototype garment shape design system.

Selected Publications

  • ECKERT, C.M. and STACEY, M.K. 'Fortune favours only the prepared mind: Why sources of inspiration are essential for continuing creativity.' Creativity and Innovation Management, 7, 9-16, 1998.
  • ECKERT, C.M., KELLY, I. and STACEY, M.K. 'Interactive generative systems for conceptual design: An empirical perspective.' Artificial Intelligence for Engineering Design, Analysis and Manufacturing, 13 (4), 303-320, 1999.
  • ECKERT, C.M. 'Managing effective communication in knitwear design.' Design Journal, 2 (3), 29-41, 1999.
  • ECKERT, C.M. 'Computer support for early design in aesthetic design domains.' Cognitive Systems, 5-3, 271-290, 1999.
  • ECKERT, C.M., CROSS, N.G. and JOHNSTON, J.H. 'Intelligent support for communication in design teams: Garment shape specifications in the knitwear industry.' Design Studies, 21, 99-112, 2000.
  • ECKERT, C.M. and STACEY, M.K. 'Sources of Inspiration: A language of design.' Pre-Proceedings of the 4th Design Thinking Research Symposium, MIT, Cambridge, MA, April 1999. Revised version selected for inclusion in a special issue of 'Design Studies'.