This grant funds a study of the viability and feasibility of an Industry/University Cooperative Research Center on Reliability, Availability, Maintainability Computer-Aided Design (RAMCAD) of Electronic Systems. There is a great industrial need to reduce electronic design lag time and improve design efficiency. The objective of the planned center is to develop computer-aided life cycle engineering models, techniques and tools. This includes identification of design tasks which can be accomplished in parallel, tasks which need integration in the sense of optimization between complicating requirements, and decision support techniques which can be applied to assist design engineers. An I/UCRC for RAMCAD of Electronic Systems appears to be one approach to satisfy the noted need. Alternative organizations, operations, and policies are being studied as are industry's interests and needs in research. The study is also determining if the Center has the potential to become self-sufficient with industrial funding in a five year period as NSF funding is phased out.//
