This research focuses on interdisciplinary aspects of electrical engineering design. Within the many sub-domains in electrical engineering, millions of varieties of products are designed with widely different design emphases. Advances in design methodologies in one sub-domain often inspire similar advances in other sub-domains. Initially, the study will be confined to the domains of electrical machinery, filters, and control systems. The plan is to create a multiloop feedback design approach (MFDA) based on existing methodologies: hierarchical decomposition, system and components modeling, parameter optimization, per-unit analysis, design standardization, performance and cost-effective analysis, fuzzy set theory, and knowledge based systems. The research will result in the formulation of a common MFDA and will investigate the overall design optimization process with emphasis on the dichotomy property and convergence of the feedback process to an optimum design. The MFDA will be tested against existing design methods in each sub-domain. The ultimate goal is the formulation of an interactive design process, based on the MFDA, in which the computer assists a designer to improve the quality of the designs.
