The Digital Design Network+ wants to showcase the art-of-the possible and benefits that Digital Design can bring to Engineering Design processes. To achieve this, we are creating a set of Digital Design Challenges that provide open-ended briefs where teams can create and compare different re-imaginings of the design process.

We are looking for academics with different digital design skills and expertise to tackle Design Challenge One. The task is to re-imagine how we design drones. We have partnered with the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in Sheffield who has recently been through a drone design exercise resulting in a Digital Thread enabled Drone Design process. This will form a point of comparison as well as a platform to build/call upon if required (e.g., access to a pre-made CAD and simulation models for their own derivations/solutions). You can apply individually or in conjunction with colleagues, and the challenge teams will be formulated by the Digital Design Network+ to provide appropriate complementarity.

We want you to tell us how the digital technologies you’re working with could be deployed the make drone design faster, better, with less. Here are some examples:

• Faster and better requirements capture through live transcriptions of meetings feeding LLM prompts to generate requirements.
• Faster generation and/or exploration of design through parametric/generative design.
• Better interaction and mission requirements through AR/VR experiences.
• Faster design using high-performance computing techniques to speed up simulation.
• With less by using surrogate models to reduce the need of computationally intensive simulation.

These statements will be used to allocate you to teams with individuals who articulated similar ambitions and/or are using the same technologies.

Over a six-month period, your team will build a “re-imagining” to show the art-of-the-possible in drone design following your theme. The “re-imagining” could be a full end-to-end solution or a collection of demonstrators showcasing where your solutions could provide the most benefit.

You will showcase your “re-imagining” at our February workshop and articulate the faster, better, with less benefits it can bring to drone design. Benefits could come in many forms including:

• Explorability
• Traceability
• Certifiability
• Optimality
• Agility
• Configurability
• Extensibility

We’re excited to see applicants with knowledge, skills, experience and innovative ideas that can show how Digital Design can fundamentally change how we approach Engineering Design.

You can access the slides from our information webinar on 30th July along with a short video from the team at AMRC here. 

Applicants are invited to participate to the D2N+ first Digital Design Challenge. Applicants will collaborate in a multi-disciplinary team to tackle the re-imagining of a drone design process. Teams will work independently to formulate innovative approaches to digital design that will be shared with the network. We anticipate there being approximately 15 awards for this case study, comprising 3 or 4 teams where each team will be assigned a theme to explore.

The call is open to early and mid-career academics who have not yet reached Professorial status, and who are eligible to receive EPSRC funding. 

The Digital Design Network Plus (D2N+) is one of six networks funded to address Tomorrow’s Engineering Research Challenges (TERC). The TERC report highlighted the opportunities that will be created if the deep-rooted strengths in engineering (and science) disciplines were reimagined to transform how we approach complex systemic and interrelated challenges.
D2N+ was established to create an active digital design community that will define, set and prioritize key Engineering Design challenges and viable solution pathways that will exploit digital design technologies and help UK engineering transition to net zero faster. The founding partners in the network are Queen’s University Belfast, University of Bristol, University of Strathclyde and University of Sheffield.

A key objective of the network is to assemble a diverse and inclusive community of practice in engineering digital design and grow it through a shared endeavour of tackling a series of Design Challenges. In this first challenge, participants will be placed in a multi-disciplinary team and contribute their digital design expertise in re-imagining the drone design process. Teams will work independently to respond to the challenge, and in doing so are expected to formulate innovative approaches to digital design that will be shared with the network.

Successful applicants should have experience in at least one area of digital design technology, be able to implement this in an engineering design process and be open to working with multiple stakeholder groups (i.e. RTOs, software vendors, end-users and academic communities).

We are seeking Challenge Case Study participants who will:

• Work constructively with other participants during the Challenge period.
• Attend D2N+ online meetings while the Case Study is active to report on progress.
• Attend the D2N+ workshop 2 (currently scheduled for 24-25th February 2026, to be held at the University of Strathclyde).
• Report on the solutions and findings of the Challenge Case study.

Funding of up to £10,000 is available at 80% FEC (i.e. £8,000) to cover academic staff time, consumables and travel. Funding for Research Assistant time or PhD students is not available, and due to the nature of the role funding for equipment is not eligible. The funding should cover all costs associated with travel you anticipate carrying out as part of the role, including attending the two-day D2N+ workshop 2. 

The call is open to all UK academics whose institutions are eligible to receive EPSRC funding. Funding allocation criteria will prioritise early career academics with high quality ideas, from a variety of disciplines.   

Please click here to complete the Challenge One  Application Form

A short video in connection with the AMRC information can be viewed here

D2N+ is fully committed to supporting and promoting EDI in all its practices and activities. We aim to establish an inclusive environment and welcome diverse applications from all protected characteristics. We particularly encourage applications from women, as this cohort is under-represented in engineering across academia and industry.  

Successful applications will be required to enter into a legal binding agreement with Queen’s University Belfast that will incorporate the UK Research and Innovation standard terms and conditions of the grant.

The data you provide will be utilized and deleted in alignment with GDPR requirements.

Applicants are asked to consult their university’s research office ahead of submitting a proposal to this call, to be clear of the requirements for meeting the deadlines set out in this document. The award is contractually and financially from Queen’s University Belfast to the University in question.  

If you have further questions, please e-mail: digitaldesignnetwork@qub.ac.uk

Proposals must be submitted by 4pm Wednesday 23^rd July 2025. The D2N+ team will acknowledge receipt of each proposal and assign a unique number.