Decision Analysis (DA) Terms
Decision Analysis looks at uncertainty, subjective probabilities, and expected utility to determine the best decision to make given a scenario.
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Multidisciplinary Design Optimization (MDO) Terms
MDO emerged as a field of optimization from structural optimization in the early 1980’s. It captures the interactions and relationships between variables in a system so that the impacts of their tradeoffs are correctly captured in the objective function when the optimization is performed. The capturing of the interactions within the subsystems through couplings results in a physically consistent system, an issue not addressed in other Systems Engineering approaches.
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Value Driven Design (VDD) Terms
VDD is a framework for developing new tools, methods, and processes that optimize systems with respect to the true desires of the stakeholder. Traditional Systems Engineering approaches, such as the Waterfall Model, impose requirements to communicate system objectives to the various levels of designers. These requirements define a hyperspace within which designs must fall. Working within this restricted hyperspace has become the norm for many designers of LSCES; however, the restrictions imposed by these requirements neglects the possibility of superior system designs that may exist beyond the defined hyperspace. VDD remedies this unintended consequence of traditional Systems Engineering approaches by reducing requirements. Instead of communicating system objectives by imposing requirements, a single value function which reflects the ultimate desire of stakeholders is used, and design decisions are made based on their total impact on the value function. In this study, the value function will be based off Net Present Profit. Therefore, VDD allows designers at lower levels of the hierarchy to make decisions relevant to the ultimate desire of the stakeholder.