Rate My Professor Shun Takai

Shun Takai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Engineering Technology at Northern Illinois University, where he joined as Assistant Professor in 2012 and previously served as Interim Chair. He holds a Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University's Design Division (2005), with a dissertation titled 'Performance vs. Cost Analysis: A Structured Methodology for Quantitative Design Concept Selection.' From Stanford, he also earned an M.A. in Economics (2005), M.S. in Statistics (2004), and M.S. in Manufacturing Systems Engineering (1998), complemented by Finite Element Analysis coursework at MIT's Center for Advanced Engineering Study (1991-1992) and a B.E. in Engineering Science from Kyoto University (1988). Takai's career includes Assistant Professor positions at Missouri University of Science and Technology in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (2009-2012) and Interdisciplinary Engineering (2005-2009), Research Assistant at Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (1998-2003), Teaching Assistant at Stanford (1998), and Senior Engineer and Assistant Manager at Sumitomo Metal Industries Ltd. in Japan (1988-1999).

Takai's research interests encompass product design and development, including customer need analysis, lifecycle engineering, lifecycle assessment, design for X, and quality function deployment; design theory and methodology, such as game-theoretic approaches to collaborative design, decision-making under uncertainty, concept selection, and case-based reasoning for cost estimation; and alternative-fuel vehicle design, analyzing public policy and gasoline price impacts on battery-electric and fuel-cell vehicles, demand, and CO₂ emissions. Notable publications include 'Sensitivity Analysis of Relative Worth in Quality Function Deployment Matrices' (Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications, 2012), 'A Bayesian Method for Predicting Future Customer Need Distributions' (Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications, 2011), 'A Game-Theoretic Model of Collaboration in Engineering Design' (ASME Journal of Mechanical Design, 2010), and 'A Lifecycle-Cost Model for Set-Based Concept Testing' (Concurrent Engineering: Research and Applications, 2010). He holds Japanese Patent A-H09-239451 for a 'Bending Device of Metal Tube and U Tube Cold Bending Method.' Takai was named the College of Engineering and Engineering Technology's 2021 Faculty of the Year for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, recognizing his teaching enhancements, high student evaluations, engineering education publications, student mentoring in capstone projects, and a three-year NSF grant of $179,000 for 'Collaborative Research: Enhancing Design Teamwork Experiences and Learning in Engineering Education.' He is a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers.