Presentation and Evaluation of New Design Formulations for Concurrent Engineering

Design is an important activity which drives many other disciplines. To insure future competitiveness in a world wide market place, reliable design processes and products must be understood. To develop this understanding, design must be studied so that in the future it can become a reliable science. To begin this study, as with other sciences, design formulations must be developed and laboratories constructed. To begin a Ph.D. research program, a survey of design directed activities was conducted, a new formulation for design conceived, and a design laboratory proposed. This paper summaries the initial phase of this research.