Structure-Oriented Exchange of Product Model Data

Technology division at IWF and head of Virtual Product Creation division at IPK, I express my gratitude for the opportunity to broaden my horizon and for his friendly aid and guidance of my work. Professor Dr.-Ing. Christian Weber, chair of the Institute of Engineering Design/CAD at the Saarland University, I thank for the analysis of this dissertation and for rendering an expert opinion. Mrs. Prof. Dr.-Ing. Lucienne Blessing I thank for her interest in my work and for chairing the promotion committee. Many thanks also to my colleagues at IWF and IPK for the close collaboration and expertise. Especially, I am indebted to Dip.-Ing. for their excellent assistance during the implementation phases, as well as to many colleagues and friends for fruitful discussions and immediate reviews of the manuscript. My special thanks go to my family who enabled and encouraged me to follow a scientific education and to Ms. Diana Beiner whose energy and endorsement was of fundamental assistance. Acknowledgement: The findings presented in this dissertation partly emerged from the research project KR 785/11-1, 2 funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) in cooperation with the Institute of Production Engineering and Machine Tools (IFW) of the University of Hannover, Germany. Sincere thanks for the financial support and the fruitful cooperation. Datenaustausch um eine neue und qualifizierte Lösung handelt, die den Anforde-rungen an eine zeitgemäße Technologie gerecht wird. Stellungnahmen bekannter Unternehmen unterstreichen die Anwendbarkeit im industriellen Umfeld. I had a real problem and needed a real solution and I used the tools, environment, and know-how then available to me in a new and unique way to provide that real solution. Isn't that what " design " really is – whether computer-aided or not? Isn't that what engineering is all about?