Problem Representation in Design Optimization

Abstract

This report documents discussion related to the issue of problem representation in design optimization, and its perceived impact in the solution of the design problem. As in each of the discussion areas, participants from both academic and industry background were included, resulting in commentary that covered a very broad range of topics, some of which were revisited in other discourses over the course of the conference. From the discussions, it was abundantly clear that problem representation had a different connotation for different people; while no effort was made to restrict the scope of such interpretations, the responsible committee for the subject area identified some pertinent issues on which participant input was solicited. These included thoughts on the fundamental nature of industry-scale design problems, problem formulation, issues related to solving optimization problems, data management in industry design practice, and the role of the human designer in all aspects of the design problem. It was very clear from the discussions that when confronted with the issue of problem representation, industry participants had a somewhat different set of priorities from their academic counterparts; wherever possible, the report attempts to identify issues on which such differences were noted.