Engineering Design: A Synthesis of Views - Softcover

Dym, Clive L.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0521477603 ISBN 13: 9780521477604

Publisher: Cambridge University Press, 1994

Synopsis

Design is a central activity in engineering. It is both a creative process not easily defined and a thought process that can, with increasing success, be externalized, articulated, and modeled. This book aims to clarify the issues, providing an operational definition of engineering design and an explication of design as a discipline. In particular, the book focuses on the contribution of AI (artificial intelligence) to engineering design. With its clear presentation of the main ideas of recent AI-based models of design, set within the context of inductive design models, the book offers an integrated view of current thinking about design. Also included is a brief review of some key AI-based problem-solving methods and classical design tools. The author closes with a look ahead at the roles that symbolic representation and knowledge-based (expert) systems can play in engineering design in practice and in education.

About this title

Review

"Clive Dym combines ideas and methods from engineering design and artificial intelligence to demonstrate persuasively that design in its full creative sense can be approached computationally with important practical consequence. This places engineering design in a research context that has long been lacking. Many prospects for a useful, formal understanding of design and the design process follow where few were available before. Dym not only provides basic insights about design, but also points the way to future work that will surely impact the design process." George Stiny, UCLA

"[Dym] has done an excellent job of describing the design process, both the psychological processes of the designer and the interaction between the human designer and the design tools that are now available and becoming available to assist (or collaborate) in the task. The book is a valuable contribution to the design literature and should be of great use as a solid introduction to the field." - Herbert A. Simon, Nobel Laureate, Professor, Carnegie Mellon University

"A very scholarly work, and primarily of value to those interested in the philosophy of the study of design." Choice

"Surprisingly for a work in engineering which is typically male-oriented, Dym uses a gender-neutral writing style--a feature especially appreciated by this reviewer. Also appreciated was the helpful index of topics, names, and people mentioned in the book." Maxine S. Cohen, IEEE Spectrum

"The book does a great job in explaining how AI holds the key to representing design. Overall, the book is highly recommended for anyone who is interested in attaining a complete picture of the field." Ankur Mehta, Yale Scientific

Edition details

• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0521477603
• ISBN 13: 9780521477604
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 223