Objectives

The ambition of the Active PRoduct-to-Process LearnIng fOR Improving Critical Components Performance (APRIORI) Doctoral network is to train the next generation of Doctoral Candidates (DCs) to fully sustain the ongoing transition of the EU manufacturing sector. This will be achieved by developing the skills and new technologies that will enable for the first time the development of a unique integrated product design strategy that will drastically improve the performance of critical parts or components under uncertainties.

The overall scientific objective is the development of a unique smart product design strategy that will lead to an enhanced performance of critical components or parts, by not only improving the product design, but also taking into the loop the manufacturing process and the manufactured product. The following three scientific objectives were identified to achieve the overall objective of the project:

  1. The development of integrated performance assessment approaches based on manufacturing processes and product performance
  2. The development of techniques to model and quantify uncertainties in and across design, manufacturing, and product performance
  3. The design and development of machine learning methods for active learning, knowledge modelling and optimization in manufacturing

To achieve these objectives, the APRIORI consortium will develop ground-breaking product-to-process active learning strategies and, thanks to the outstanding consortium set up, will train its DCs in a broad spectrum of key enabling techniques. The interdisciplinary and diverse supervisory team will stimulate the creativity of the 10 DCs, enhance their innovation capacity, and boost their employability in long term, while simultaneously ensuring scientific, societal, and economic impacts in the EU manufacturing sector across Europe and beyond. The key element of the APRIORI doctoral training program are:

  1. Building a consortium of EU leaders across key areas of expertise
  2. Training a new type of Engineer: the Active Learner Engineer (ALE)
  3. Developing a well-rounded set of skills
  4. Proposing 10 PhD projects to attract the world’s best
  5. Making the collaboration with industry a priority