Special Issue on Collaborative Engineering

Abstract

Design of complex engineering systems is increasingly becoming a collaborative task among designers or design teams that are physically, geographically, and temporally distributed. The complexity of modern products means that a single designer or design team can no longer manage the complete product development effort. Developing products without sufficient expertise in a broad set of disciplines can result in extended product development cycles, higher development costs, and quality problems. On the other hand, ensuring comprehensive technical proficiency in a world where trends are toward more multidisciplinary design can become a costly undertaking for a company.