White Papers
Collaborative Engineering Enterprise with Integrated Modeling Environment
Henry Ng, Suleyman Guleyupoglu, Frank Segariarett Malone, Michael Papay
June 2003
Abstract
The U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) vision is to have a Simulation Based Acquisition (SBA) process that is enabled by robust, collaborative use of simulation technology that is integrated across acquisition phases and programs. The objectives are to reduce the time, resources and risk associated with the acquisition process. In the authors’ experience a Collaborative Engineering Enterprise (CEE) is ideal to support the execution of SBA applications. CEE ties together the enterprise resources, project and engineering processes, and personnel needed for engineering development. CEE applies state-of-the-art information management, process workflow management, distributed computing, and modeling and simulation (M&S) technologies to provide a common framework within which the organization and its partners can collaborate. Phoenix Integration Inc. has developed an integrated simulation environment called ModelCenter® that enables a distributed team of engineers to perform engineering level modeling and analysis. It is well suited for supporting "System of Systems" engineering trade-off and optimization. In 2002, a Cooperative Research And Development Agreement (CRADA) between NRL and Phoenix was established. The goal of this agreement is to exploit recent advances in information technology to create an architecture that integrates task and management process, workflow, data and M&S services with both product models and simulations for supporting collaborative engineering enterprise. In this paper, we will give a brief overview of the CEE, process flow and integrated model environment, describe the objectives and motivation of our CRADA, the critical factors that drive the development, and design philosophy.
Introduction
The U.S. DOD vision is to have a Simulation Based Acquisition (SBA) process that is enabled by robust, collaborative use of simulation technology that is integrated across acquisition phases and programs [1]. The objectives are to reduce the time, resources and risk associated with the acquisition process. A Collaborative Engineering Enterprise (CEE) can be used as a valuable tool to support the execution of SBA applications. With this motivation, the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) developed a prototype CEE system in 2002 [2]. This system ties together the enterprise resources, project processes, engineering processes, and personnel needed for engineering development. CEE applies state-of-the-art information management, process workflow management, distributed computing, and M&S technologies to provide a common framework for the organization and its partners. This framework may be used to collaborate across different engineering domains and life cycle phases.
Phoenix Integration Inc. (Phoenix) has developed an integrated simulation environment called ModelCenter® that enables a distributed team of engineers to perform engineering level modeling and analysis. Users can quickly create an engineering workflow and then perform complex design exploration techniques to find the best solution. It can be used to link multiple simulations, cost models, and information technology models to create a powerful decision support environment. It automates the process of running hundreds of design programs that engineers need during a typical design project. It is well suited for supporting "System of Systems" engineering trade-off and optimization.
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