PM&RG - Product Modelling & Realisation Group

Virtual Engineering

Computer-aided product processes in a virtual enterprise

Funding: Academy of Finland

The basic question addressed by this research is the following: What computational models and tools are needed to support engineering process integration, and in particular, information sharing between different stages of a product process and across different product processes?

We study the issues related to this question under the assumption of a virtual organisation. Therefore, we try to systematically avoid making "simplifying assumptions" on the integration potential of engineering processes. We do not assume that the methods, systems, and tools used by engineers are compatible, or that the engineering systems can exchange information directly or through shared databases.

Our basic research approach is to develop integrated product and process models that support co-operation, information sharing, and co-ordination of activities for engineering teams in a virtual organization. Therefore, the following technical themes will be studied in relation to different scenarios:

creating and using shared ontologies of product processes
creating and deploying models of engineering rationale
contributing to and applying the facilities of a joint communication, co-operation, and co-ordination (CCC) infrastructure based on agent and knowledge sharing technologies.

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URL: http://www.cs.hut.fi/~pmrg/VE.html