Design Theory 88

In 1984, Nam Sub, who was then the Assistant Director for Engineering at the National Science Foundation (NSF), created the Design Theory and Methodology Program. Among his goals in creating this program were to develop a science of engineering design and to establish design as an accepted field of engineering research. From 1984 to 1986 this program was directed by Susan Finger; from 1986 to the present Jack Dixon has been the director. The program itself has covered a broad range of disciplines, from chemical engineering to architecture, and a broad range of research paradigms, from psychological experiments to mathematical models. The present volume is based on the second NSF Grantee Workshop on Design Theory and Methodology, called Design Theory '88, which was held June 2-5, 1988 at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, NY, USA. It is, however, not strictly a proceedings since it includes some material that was not presented at a the Workshop and since it omits some papers and discussions that were presented at the Workshop. At the Workshop, invited speakers presented overviews of six different research areas based on summaries submitted in advance by the grantees of the Design Theory and Methodology Program. Since most of the speakers were not supported under the NSF program they brought fresh views to it. The other papers in this book were submitted directly to this volume and were not presented at the Workshop.

This volume, Mechanical Design: Theory and Methodology, has been put together over the past four years. Most of the work is ongoing as can be ascertained easily from the text. One can argue that this is so for any text or monograph. Any such book is only a snapshot in time, giving information about the state of knowledge of the authors when the book was compiled. The chapters have been updated and are representative of the state of the art in the field of design theory and methodology. It is barely over a decade that design as an area of study was revived, mostly at the behest of industry, government, and academic leaders. Profes sor Nam Suh, then the head of the Engineering Directorate at the National Science Foundation, provided much of the impetus for the needed effort. The results of early work of researchers, many of whom have authored chapters in this book, were fundamental in conceiving the ideas behind Design for X or DFX and concurrent engineering issues. The artificial intelli gence community had a strong influence in developing the required com puter tools mainly because the field had a history of interdisciplinary work. Psychologists, computer scientists, and engineers worked together to under stand what support tools will improve the design process. While this influ ence continues today, there is an increased awareness that a much broader community needs to be involved.

Theories normally seek to explain something. 118 Theories of Design[ing] asks us to question those explanations. By focusing on a broad range of somewhat overlooked and undervalued essays, papers, book articles, words, terms, authors and phenomena that swirl around design[ing], the reader is encouraged to read, reflect and question everything. This original book will appeal to a global market of university faculty heads and deans, museum directors, design educators, design researchers, key design practitioners, publishers, members of the design media, and undergraduate, postgraduate and post-doctoral students of design.

One of the most significant developments in computing over the last ten years has been the growth of interest in computer based support for people working together. Recognition that much work done in offices is essentially group work has led to the emergence of a distinct subfield of computer science under the title Computer Supported Cooperative Work (CSCW). Since the term was first coined in 1984, there has been growing awareness of the relevance to the field of, and the valuable con tributions to be made by, non-computing disciplines such as sociology, management science, social psychology and anthro pology. This volume addresses design issues in CSCW, an- since this topic crucially involves human as well as technical considerations - brings together researchers from such a broad range of disciplines. Most of the chapters in this volume were originally presented as papers at the one-day seminar, "Design Issues in CSCW", held at the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), London, on 17 March 1992, one in aseries of DTI-supported CSCW SIG seminars. We would like to express our gratitude to the series editors, Colston Sanger and Dan Diaper, for their useful comments on, and suggestions for revisions to, the final draft of the manuscript; to Linda Schofield, our editor at Springer, for her continued encouragement throughout the preparation of the manuscript; and, finally, to our respective families for their support and patience over so many months.

Created to teach students many of the most important techniques used for constructing combinatorial designs, this is an ideal textbook for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses in Combinatorial Design Theory. The text features clear explanations of basic designs such as Steiner and Kirkman triple systems, mutually orthogonal Latin squares, finite projective and affine planes, and Steiner quadruple systems. In these settings, the student will master various construction techniques, both classic and modern, and will be well prepared to construct a vast array of combinatorial designs. Design Theory offers a progressive approach to the subject, with carefully ordered results. It begins with simple constructions that gradually increase in complexity. Each design has a construction that contains new ideas, or that reinforces and builds upon similar ideas previously introduced. The many illustrations aid in understanding and enjoying the application of the constructions described. Written by professors with the needs of students in mind, this is destined to become the standard textbook for design theory.