The Concurrent Design process Lisbon Seminar – CENFIM

Outline Backgroud and the idea behind Concurrent Design. Key elements of Concurrent Design Concurrent Design in a distributed setting How Concurrent Design was used in this project to design courses How the students could use Concurrent Design principles when they take courses Summary and our main experiences

Background and the idea behind Concurrent Design Effective multidisciplinary collaboration is the key to success in most problem solving process of a certain complexity. Concurrent Design is a method to obtain effective multidisciplinary problem solving where time and money can be saved while we are able to deliver products of better quality. NASA was a pioneer in the development of Concurrent Design, as they had a pressure to deliver better results, in a shorter time and at a lower cost, after “the cold war”. Concurrent Design has since been implemented in many fields where multidisciplinary problem solving is important and the oil and gas activities in the North Sea is an example of this.

Key elements of Concurrent Design People Tools Process Concurrent Design means: The desired results will be achieved by means of a process, the right people and utilization of appropriate tools. Results

Concurrent Design in a distributed setting Today's technology offers opportunities, even though we are spread worldwide. We have access to collaborative tools that: ✓ Support a wide range of communication possibilities ✓ Enables advanced cooperation in different ways ✓ Support needed articulation work in appropriate ways But, a methodology and trained participants is also necessary if we are to succeed…

Concurrent Design in the FLITE project (A Distributed Concurrent Design approach -> Used for course development)

Concurrent Design in the FLITE project (A Distributed Concurrent Design approach -> Used to stimulate collaboration among the students taking the course) The students should collaborate to produce a business model/plan The students will learn some of the principles of Concurrent Design and its application in a distributed setting The students becomes able to work structured toward a business model and they will finalize a business plan: Working sessions instead of more traditional meetings Preparation and planning before meetings (working sessions) starts Purposeful collaboration with fruitful discussions during the sessions Evaluation of the work during the process

Summary and our main experiences Effective collaboration in a distributed setting is key; --- throughout the project -- - The preparation phase Project calibration (Which people, which process, what tools and what kind of deliverables) Building competence and get to know each other. The implementation phase Necessary preparations Effective implementation of concurrent sessions (working sessions) Completion of intermediate results Ongoing evaluation The termination phase Completion of final deliverables Evaluation of the project

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