Taking a highly strengthened diesel engine piston as the research object, the topology optimization and orthogonal test method are carried out to achieve the requirement for light weighting design and the heat flow control, respectively. The heat insulation structures which include the piston head with heat insulation material, air cavity and heat insulation pad are applied to the optimized topology piston. The significant influence factors for the temperature field are determined by orthogonal experiment and extreme difference analysis. In addition, a multi-objective optimization method is used to establish the overall heat flow evaluation model and each insulated composite piston is estimated. Then, the heat flux distribution and stress field are obtained using finite element analysis. Through the multi-disciplinary collaborative teaching and numerical simulation training, it not only promotes the students to digest and absorb professional knowledge, but also enhances their innovative thinking abilities.