Manufacturing is undergoing rapid change. Whether through the creation of smart materials and products, or utilising data, information and knowledge, the requirement for different ways of working is increasing. To meet future manufacturing needs, design and manufacturing skills and tools must transcend disciplines and industrial sectors. Transdisciplinary Engineering Design (TREND) aims to enable the rapid uptake of emerging technologies across manufacturing sectors and the constitute disciplines. Within this paper, we provide an overview of the TREND research group and their preliminary research towards a Transdisciplinary Engineering Index.