Materia, a material selection tool for advancing bio-based materials adoption

Abstract

Material selection is essential in transitioning to renewable resource-based materials within product development, and the roles of designers and engineers are critical in this process. The emergence of bio-based materials underscores the need for interdisciplinary collaboration between designers and engineers to achieve sustainability goals related to material transition. While engineers focus on technical properties like cost, tensile strength, and melting points, designers emphasize experiential qualities such as sensorial appreciation, meanings, and material identity in material selection. Existing research has explored these technical and intangible perspectives separately, resulting in a disconnect in understanding the full potential of material applications in products. 

This thesis bridges this gap by introducing a novel material profile tool that integrates technical properties and experiential qualities. Through material explorations and workshops with design and engineering practitioners, the study identifies shared and divergent approaches to material selection. Findings reveal factors influencing the adoption of bio-based materials during early production stages and propose strategies to characterize materials holistically. This research aims to advance the adoption of bio-based materials, fostering a more sustainable design and production paradigm by uniting technical and experiential perspectives within material selection contexts for designers and engineers.