Crawling Out of the Box. It used to be that mechanical design was the domain of innovation. Today’s products are a complex web of mechanical design, electronics and controls, software, etc. The Segway and any cell phone are good examples of this.
Unfortunately, our design automation tools have evolved to solve the problems of partitioned disciplines that reflect that past (our universities are similarly departmentalized). We have great products for mechanical design, for software design, etc., but we have yet to develop a great tool set that addresses the full spectrum of design. We’re beginning to see that change as we crawl out of our boxes. Where will it go from here?

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