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Research in Engineering Design

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01-07-2012 | Original Paper

The interdisciplinary engineering knowledge genome

Authors: Yoram Reich, Offer Shai

Published in: Research in Engineering Design | Issue 3/2012

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Abstract

Parallel to the concept of the human genome and its impact on biology and other disciplines, we revealed a similar concept in engineering sciences, termed the “Interdisciplinary Engineering Knowledge Genome”, which is an organized collection of system and method “genes” that encode instructions for generating new systems and methods in diverse engineering disciplines. Resting on the firm mathematical foundation of combinatorial representations, the Interdisciplinary Engineering Knowledge Genome unifies many engineering disciplines, providing a basis for transforming knowledge between them, supporting new educational practices, promoting inventions, aiding design, and bootstrapping new discoveries in engineering and science. Given the formal underlying combinatorial representations, these merits could be automated. This paper elucidates this new concept and demonstrates its value and power in engineering design.

previous article Representational affordances in design, with examples from analogy making and optimization

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We use the term interdisciplinary to denote a concept that provides an integrative framework for knowledge from different disciplines. The term multidisciplinary is closely related but is often meant to describe the parallel working of multiple disciplines without integrating their body of knowledge. Another term, transdisciplinary, might have been more appropriate, but it has recently come to refer to solving societal problems that transcend single disciplines and require different design and inquiry practices. While our long-term goal is similar, we have no example of such use of the concept we propose that supports referring to it as being transdisciplinary.

This has led researchers to look at new ways to measure the amount of interdisciplinary work in a scientific discipline (Porter and Youtie 2009; Rafols and Meyer 2007).

We see similar trend in the biology literature, gradually moving from studying genes, to single protein pathways, and analyzing the complete network of protein interaction (Barabási and Oltvai 2004), as well as the identification of hierarchical structures in protein pathways (Dobrin et al. 2004; Kashtan et al. 2004). Through this, the concept of the genome evolves continuously.

Presently, this property is related to simple single functions. It remains to be demonstrated for complex functions.

This network of relations is growing steadily with further analysis of new representations and new engineering disciplines.

A provisional patent has been filed for this device.

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Title: The interdisciplinary engineering knowledge genome
Authors: Yoram Reich
Offer Shai
Publication date: 01-07-2012
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
Published in: Research in Engineering Design / Issue 3/2012
Print ISSN: 0934-9839
Electronic ISSN: 1435-6066
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00163-012-0129-x

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