Engineering and Systems Design

The Engineering and Systems Design (ESD) program supports descriptive and normative research leading to a theory of engineering design and an understanding of systems engineering. The program is focused on gaining an understanding of the basic processes and phenomena underlying a view of design where the system life-cycle context informs the identification and definition of preferences, analysis of alternatives, effective accommodation of uncertainty in decision-making, and the relationship between data, information, and knowledge in a digitally-supported environment. The program funds advances in a descriptive understanding of design and basic design theory that span multiple domains, such as the relationship of systems to the environment, the significance of manufacturability, and the range of complexity from small designed artifacts to large engineered systems. Fundamental research in system science and system engineering theory should be submitted to the System Science (SYS) program. Research in which the primary contribution is observation and description of systems engineering should be submitted to the ESD program, and should identify the System Science program as a secondary program.