Detail

Error Detection and Change Propagation in a Collaborative, Multi-Tool Engineering Environment

Conventional wisdom suggests that better engineering tools lead to better engineered systems. Yet, despite an impressive and growing computer-supported tool landscape, engineering remains complex and hard to control. A problem we observe is that most existing tools cater to the needs of individual engineers and not the needs of collaborating engineering teams. These tools divide rather than unite because engineers only ever perceive the engineering process through the limited perspective of the (few) tools they are using – often focusing on separate kinds of artifacts, tasks, and engineering disciplines. Consequently, engineers find it hard to maintain a consistent, overall view of the engineering knowledge or propagate changes across tools and disciplines. This talk explores why it is essential for all engineering knowledge to be linked and continuously checked for correctness – with far reaching benefits such as understanding the impact of design changes across tools.