SGER: Optimal Design Lexicon, and Construction of ObjectiveFunctions

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

9615306 Messac This is a Small Grant for Exploratory Research to examine the use of language in the engineering design literature. Engineering design has failed to emerge clearly as an engineering discipline in part because it has been impeded by a lack of a clear lexicon for communication, and researchers in the field have been reluctant to create a lexicon. Indeed, the current use of language in design encompasses a broad range of disparate definitions for some key words. In a few cases, the same researcher has used a word repeatedly in a single paper, each time with a substantially different definition. The research funded under this grant will survey the design literature and provide and publish a collection of definitions for words that are key to the field. It is hoped that, by providing a list of words key to the field of engineering design together with the disparate definitions assigned to them by different researchers, the engineering design research community will obtain a clearer view of the confusion created by this chaotic situation. This effort could form the basis of a dialog that will result in better communication among researchers in the field and subsequently improve the efficacy of research in the field. Clarity of language in itself can also lead to better design education and improved design tools. All of these factors contribute to the success of American industry.