The goal of the Engineering Design Research Center at Carnegie Mellon University is to provide the research and educational base for the development and integration of design methodologies that will make U.S. industry preeminent in design practice, improving: (1) marketability (or user acceptability), (2) manufacturability (design ensures manufacturing quality and low cost), (3) timeliness (short lead time from design to production and market). Researchers in the Center are developing a morphology of design problems and approaches to prescribe appropriate design methods, create new design methodologies for quality, manufacturability and synthesis, and to integrate design tools into effective design environments. Research projects are being pursued in the different domains of manufacturing, electronics, chemical processes, and architecture and civil engineering. These projects are integrated within three laboratories: 1. Design for Manufacturing Laboratory, 2. Synthesis Laboratory, 3. Design Systems Laboratory. The issues in design research being addressed are of national importance. Design capability has been and will be a critical factor in economic competitiveness. Industrial participation from firms in many different sectors, such as Chemicals Aerospace, Automotive, Computers, Electronics, Construction, have helped the Center create important, empirically-based research on design issues that occur in many different engineering domains.
