Knowledge representation and management for Engineering Design

Engineering design is the process by which product requirements are transformed into product descriptions. Engineering design is distinguished from design in other more purely creative domains by the fact that it is a highly disciplined and highly regulated activity. The highly regulated nature of engineering is at the same time a blessing and a burden. It is a blessing because the discipline and the methodologies safeguard engineers from wasting time and efforts reinventing wheels. A good proportion of engineering work consists of reusing existing solutions and applying predefined algorithms. The high level of regulation is also an intellectual burden on the engineering designers: For those decisions where the designers have room for choice and creativity, they must negotiate their decisions in light of all applicable laws and regulations. Typically, convergence towards compliant designs is a costly, lengthy, and non monotonic process involving repeated cycles of testing and patching. Integrated support of Verification and Validation (V&V) of designs with respect to applicable standards and requirements by Computer Aided Design (CAD) systems is highly desirable. Such support would likely have a noticeable impact on product quality and process performance. The case for making verification and validation an integral part of engineering design activities does not need to be made. The benefits of integrating V&V with design are commonly agreed upon and are seen as the flagship of mature engineering domains (Dijkstra, 1989). Electrical engineers, for example, generally use fool-proof design methods and standards, leading to artifacts that are correct by design. Software engineers, by contrast, generally still design their products using error-prone trial and error processes (Mili et al, 1995, Shaw, 1990). Historically, design support systems have placed little or no emphasis on V&V support. V&V activities are either not supported at all or supported as an after-thought using a library of simulation and testing routines. An increasing need for V&V support, added to recent technological advances and trends has