Visual Design and Engineering Lab
We are a dynamic research group at the Mechanical Engineering Department at Carnegie Mellon University. Our research develops novel AI and machine learning approaches for engineering design, simulation, and manufacturing. By integrating generative models, state-of-the-art learning paradigms, and real-time sensing, we aim to enable faster, more accurate, and more resilient engineering systems. Our focus is on technologies that improve design, process monitoring, manufacturability, performance, and overall innovation in a wide range of industries.
To this end, our research focuses on generating new algorithmic and methodological knowledge, all demonstrated and validated through computational software. Our research projects are centered around the following core foundations and applications:
| Core Foundations | Applications | |
|---|---|---|
|
|
News
May 2026Two new PhD students joining VDEL in Fall 2026! Mohammed, Eshwar, welcome to VDEL!
May 2026We have three papers to appear at this year's IDETC! (1) Ortho2Cad: 3D Cad Generation From Orthographic Drawings Using Vision Language Models, (2) Natural-Language To Sysmlv2 Translation Via Conformance-Driven Iterative Refinement, and (3) Llm'S Analysis Of Engineering Drawings
August 2025A long-overdue update of this site is finally underway.
August 2025We presented two papers at this year's IDETC, and Prof. Kara gave an invited talk at the workshop on 'From Data to Design: Challenges and Opportunities across Industry and Academia'
August 2025Kevin, Dan, Ray all successfully defended their PhD theses! Congratulations!
December 2024Prof. Kara gave an invited talk at Istanbul Technical University's Cavit Citak Technology seminar series.
August 2024Congratulations Tong, Wentai, and Haiguang on your very well deserved PhDs!
May 2022We are presenting four papers at IDETC-DAC 2022. Check out our publications page!
April 2022Prof. Kara gave a talk at the Toronto Geometry Colloquium.