The principal investigator proposes to research a new concept which he calls Design for Analysis. Design for Analysis asserts that the design of a product or system should include the constraint that the design will need to be analyzed. Therefore, if the design can be analyzed using simpler and better-understood models, the design concept can be modeled and analyzed faster, allowing more time for considering design alternatives and performing sensitivity analyses. The basic tenet is that the increased time for exploration will result in greater payoffs than time spent in modeling and analyzing a more analytically complex design. Other possible benefits of Design for Analysis might include: simplicity, robustness, responsiveness, and simpler operations of designs. Two approaches could be pursued: (i) establish a number of instances where the concept of Design for Analysis leads to benefits and also establish counter-examples; (ii) develop an understanding, perhaps leading to a theory, of when and why this methodology works. Initially, the principal investigator will pursue the first approach in the two domains of manufacturing and computer systems. If the initial research is promising, the second approach will be followed. This award is made under the program for Expedited Awards for Novel Research.
