----- Title: ----- Multidisciplinary Design Optimization - Theory, Methodology, and Application ----------- Organizers: ----------- Hongbing Fang Department of Mechanical Engineering & Engineering Science The University of North Carolina at Charlotte 9201 University City Boulevard Charlotte, NC 28223-0001 Phone: (704) 687-8328 Fax: (704) 687-8345 Email: hfang@uncc.edu Ming Zhou Altair Engineering, Inc. McCabe Way, Suite 100 Irvine, CA 92614 Phone: (949) 221-0930 ext. 777 FAX: (949) 261-1249 Email: zhou@altair.com ------------------------- Minisymposium description: ------------------------- Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) is a formal methodology for the design of complex coupled systems in which the synergistic effects of coupling between various interacting disciplines and/or phenomena are explored and exploited at every stage of the design process. Engineering Systems are getting increasingly complex and must be represented by large and sophisticated numerical models. They involve several interacting disciplines or are made up of distinct interacting subsystems that must be considered simultaneously to obtain efficient designs. The main scientific challenge of MDO lies in the development of robust and efficient numerical techniques within the computational framework required for the necessary coupling of software systems for all the disciplines. Since it is an interdisciplinary activity, a fundamental need for MDO is the establishment of an effective communication platform between engineers and scientists acting in different disciplines. This minisymposium aims at bringing together scientists and engineers working in different areas of simulation and design optimization. It seeks to cover all aspects of structural and multidisciplinary optimization as well as their industrial applications. The topics suitable for this minisymposium include but are not limited to 1. Structural Topology Optimization 2. Geometric and Shape Optimization of Structures 3. MDO - Multidisciplinary Design Optimization 4. Smart structures and materials 5. Multi-scale Optimization 6. Optimization Methods in Bio-mechanics and Bio-medical Engineering 7. Optimization Methods in Advanced Materials and Nano-materials 8. Mathematical Programming Algorithms 9. Optimality Criteria Methods 10. Genetic Algorithms and Fuzzy Optimization 11. Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks 12. Optimization with Approximate Models 13. Multi-objective Optimization 14. Global Optimization 15. Decomposition Methods 16. Concurrent Engineering 17. Robust Design 18. Reliability-Based Design Optimization 19. Software, Collaborative System, and Virtual Reality of MDO 20. Practical Applications of Structural and Multidisciplinary Design Optimization