Zhuming Bi is a professor at the Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering, Purdue University Fort Wayne. His research interests are computer aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM), finite element analysis, machine designs, robotics and automation, and enterprise systems. Professor Bi has authored or co-authored 3 books, including two textbooks on ‘Finite Element Analysis Applications’ and ‘computer aided design and manufacturing’. In addition, Professor Bi has published 10 book chapters, 130 journal articles, and over 50 articles in conference proceedings. Currently, he teaches various courses in mechanical engineering including Solid Modelling, Kinematics and Dynamics of Machinery, Machine Design, Manufacturing Processes, Finite Element Analysis, and Mechatronics. Chris W. J. Zhang is a professor of Mechanical Engineering at the Advanced Engineering Design Laboratory, Department of Mechanical Engineering at University of Saskatchewanin Canada, as well as a Chair Professor with the East China University of Science of Technology, Shanghai, China. He received his PhD degree from Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands in 1994. He is the author or co-author of over 320 refereed technical publications, with over 200 papers in refereed journals and over 130 papers in refereed conference proceedings in a broad scope of fields, including design and mechatronics, manufacturing, informatics, and human–machine systems. Professor Zhang is a fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME), a fellow of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers. He serves as a senior editor for ASME/IEEE ‘Transactions on Mechatronics’ and an Associate Editor for the ‘International Journal of Systems Science’ and ‘Enterprise Information Systems’.