Innovative Approaches To Collaborative Design Projects

Rapid changes in technology and a global economic recession have prompted many leading manufacturing companies to reevaluate and upgrade their design and manufacturing process. An increasing number of these companies have moved from traditional design environment to a virtual one. Companies such as Boeing have utilized various new software/tools and adopted innovative technologies to reduce cost and time to market for new products. In response to these changes in industry, engineering schools have also reevaluated and realized their curriculum particularly in area of collaborative design projects. The objectives of this paper are (1) to review the existing software/tools and methodologies used in design processes, (2) to introduce innovative approaches to collaborative design environment, then (3) present several funded case studies employing new cutting-edge technologies.