Designing Complex Systems : Foundations of Design in the Functional Domain

Emphasizing a top-down approach, this volume considers the purpose and basic features of design and how the concept of value can provide a quantitative measure of that wider interaction of the engineered object with its environment. This work also develops the domain in which functional design takes place and explores how the system concept can be embedded in that domain. It proposes a number of functional design elements and develops them in considerable detail, outlining how they can be applied as part of a coherent design framework. For greater understanding of the discussed concepts, numerous examples and analogies are included.

Without standardized construction elements such as nuts, bolts, bearings, beams, resistors and the like, the design of physical equipment is hopelessly inefficient, and engineers are continually bogged down with re-designing these elements over and over again. The same can be said for the domain of ideas and performance requirements. Only through a process of standardization of the corresponding functional elements will systems engineering truly live up to its potential of increased efficiency and quality.

Designing Complex Systems: Foundations of Design in the Functional Domain introduces students and practitioners in the field of system design to a particular methodology that addresses design issues in a rigorous and consistent top-down fashion. It also reassesses the characteristics of engineering and its place within the field of intellectual activity, in particular, examining the creative aspects of design as reflected in the difference between engineers and technicians.

Erik W. Aslaksen brings forty years of experience to the table with this groundbreaking work. He examines how the concept of value can provide a quantitative measure of that wider interaction of the engineered object with its environment. With its forward-looking approach and holistic perspective, this volume is sure to advance the field of knowledge of systems engineering for years to come.