What's new...

• During the Spring of 2009, I will be at Georgia Tech Lorraine in Metz, France.  The Summer, I will spend at the University of Bath in the UK.  These leaves are part of a "sabbatical" or professional development leave.  An important part of my activities will be to visit European universities to explore research collaborations.  The best way to contact me while I'm on leave is by e-mail: chris.paredis@me.gatech.edu.
  
• In Spring 2009, ME 6105: Modeling and Simulation in Design will be offered again.  To get an idea of what the course is about, you can visit this semester's course web-site.  The course will also be offered in the Fall of 2009.
  
• On May 14, the Georgia Tech PSLM Center hosted the 2008 Frontiers in Simulation and Design Workshop.  The event took place in conjunction with the workshop on Developing a Design/Simulation Framework (May 13) organized by CPDA's Design/Simulation Council.

Contact Information

Biographical Sketch

Dr. Paredis is an Associate Professor in the G.W. Woodruff School of Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. He received his M.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Catholic University of Leuven (Belgium) in 1988, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 1990 and 1996, respectively. From 1996 to 2002, he was a Research Scientist at the Institute for Complex Engineered Systems at Carnegie Mellon University. Dr. Paredis has a broad, multidisciplinary background. In his research, he combines aspects of information technology, simulation, and systems theory to support the design of mechatronic systems, focusing in particular on decision making under uncertainty in conceptual design.  In these areas, he has published more that 80 refereed journal articles and conference papers.  Dr. Paredis received the 2007 CETL/BP Junior Faculty Teaching Excellence Award and the 2007 SAE Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award. In 2007-2008, he was the Chair of the ASME Computers and Information in Engineering (CIE) Division.

• B.S./M.S. (Burg. Ir.) Mechanical Engineering, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven (Belgium), 1988.
• M.S. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1990.
• B.S. Business Administration (Diplôme Complémentaire en Administration des Affaires), Université de Liège (Belgium), 1991.
• Ph.D. Electrical and Computer Engineering, Carnegie Mellon University, 1996.

Research Interests

Continuous advances in computing and networking capabilities are fundamentally changing the discipline of engineering design.  There is abundant capacity to capture and store huge volumes of data about engineered systems and processes; there is processing power to quickly perform complex analyses and optimizations; and there is networking bandwidth to share large data sets in real-time among distant collaborators.  The challenge is to use all these capabilities such that they improve the designer’s ability to make rational decisions.  To support decisions, one needs to provide the appropriate supporting information quickly, accurately and economically.  This is the focus of Dr. Paredis’ research:

How should one discover, formalize, catalogue,
retrieve and apply design knowledge in an
efficient manner, resulting in accurate information
in support of product lifecycle decisions?

Dr. Paredis addresses these questions from a fundamental, theoretical perspective.  It is his vision that information can be generated efficiently through the development of modular, composable, and reusable knowledge representations, while the accuracy issue can be addressed through the development of novel, formal, more expressive representations and methods for uncertain knowledge and information.

Both research aspects fit within the larger context of design theory and methodology.  The goal is to develop design methods that are formal and systematic but at the same time practical.  In the limit, under idealized circumstances, the methods should be consistent with normative decision theory.  In a practical context, such design methods need to be consistent with the principles of information economics: knowledge should only be captured formally and information should only be generated if the benefits outweigh the costs.

Dr. Paredis is exploring these research ideas in the context of Model-Based Systems Engineering.  He has implemented several prototype modeling and decision support tools within a framework based on the Systems Modeling Language (OMG SysML^TM).

For an overview of the research my students are performing, please see this presentation.

Keywords:  Simulation-based Design or Model-Based Engineering, Information and Knowledge Management, Composable Simulations, Uncertainty Quantification, Model Validation.

Recent Publications

A complete list of publications is available here.

• Malak, Richard J., Aughenbaugh, Jason M. and Paredis, Christiaan J. J. (2007) "Multi-Attribute Utility Analysis in Set-Based Conceptual Design." Computer Aided Design. To appear. PDF.
• Malak, Richard J., and Paredis, Christiaan J. J.. (2007) "Using Parameterized Pareto Sets to Model Design Concepts." in Proceedings of the ASME International Mechanical Engineering Congress and Exposition (IMECE2007), Seattle, WA, USA. Paper no. IMECE2007-43226. PDF.
• Malak, R.J. and Paredis, Christiaan J. J.. (2007) "Validating Behavioral Models for Reuse." Research in Engineering Design. To appear. PDF.
• Aughenbaugh, J.M., Duncan, S., Paredis, C.J.J., and Bras, B.. (2006) "A Comparison of Probability Bounds Analysis and Decision Analysis in Environmentally Benign Design and Manufacture." in Proceedings of the IDETC/CIE 2006, Philadelphia, PA. Paper no. DETC2006-99230.
• Aughenbaugh, J.M. and Paredis, C.J.J.. (2006) "The Value of Using Imprecise Probabilities in Engineering Design." ASME Journal of Mechanical Design. 128(4), pp.969-979. PDF.

Courses

• COE 1361: Computing for Engineers --- introductory course on computing
• ME 2016: Computing Techniques --- sophomore course in modeling and simulation, numerical methods, Matlab.
• ME 6105: Modeling and Simulation in Design --- graduate level course on the use of modeling and simulation in systems design.

Students

Current Graduate Students:

• Kevin Davies (with Comas Haynes)
  
• Alek Kerzhner
  
• Roxanne Moore
• Wladimir Schamai (with Peter Fritzson at Linköping University)
  
• Aditya Shah (with Dirk Schaefer)
  
• Stephanie Thompson

Current Undergraduate Students:

• none while I'm on sabbatical.
  

Past Graduate Students:

• Roxanne Moore, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Thesis: "Variable fidelity modeling as applied to trajectory optimization for a hydraulic backhoe." Graduated, May 2009.
  
• Alek Kerzhner, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Thesis: "Using domain specific languages to capture design knowledge for model-based systems engineering." Graduated, May 2009.
  
• Richard Malak, Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Dissertation: "Using parameterized efficient sets to model alternatives for systems design decisions." Graduated, December 2008.
  
• Manas Bajaj, Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Dissertation: "Knowledge composition methodology for effective analysis problem formulation in simulation-based design." Graduated, December 2008.
  
• Jonathan Jobe, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Thesis: “Multi-Aspect Component Models: Enabling the Reuse of Engineering Analysis Models in SysML.” Graduated, August 2008.
  
• Tommy Johnson, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Thesis: “Integrating Models and Simulations of Continuous Dynamic System Behavior into SysML.” Graduated, May 2008.
• Jason Aughenbaugh, Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Dissertation: “Managing Uncertainty in Engineering Design Using Principles of Imprecise Probabilities and Information Economics.”  Graduated July 2006.
• Jay Ling, MS in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Thesis: “Managing Information Collection in Simulation-Based Design.”  Graduated June 2006.
• Morgan Bruns, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Thesis: “Propagation of Imprecise Probabilities through Black-Box Models.”  Graduated May 2006.
• Jitesh Panchal, Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Co-advised with Farrokh Mistree. Graduated November 2005. Dissertation: “Framework for Simulation-Based Integrated Design of Multiscale Products and Design Processes.”
• Steven Rekuc, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech. Graduated August 2005. Thesis: “Eliminating Design Alternatives under Interval-Based Uncertainty.”
• Richard Malak, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Thesis: "A Framework for Validating Reusable Behavioral Models in Engineering Design." Graduated May 2005.
  
• Vei-Chung Liang, Ph.D. in Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, Graduated December 2004.  Dissertation: “Towards an Engineering Port Ontology for System Design and Simulation.” 
• Tarun Rathnam, M.S. in Mechanical Engineering at Georgia Tech.  Thesis: “Using Ontologies to Support Interoperability in Federated Simulation.”  Graduated August 2004.
• Soshi Iba, Ph.D. in Robotics at Carnegie Mellon (Co-advised with  Prof. Khosla), Graduated August 2004. Dissertation: “Robot Programming Through Multi-Modal Interaction.”
• Michael Collins, M.S. in Elelectrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, Graduated in June 2002. Thesis: “LEGION: A System for Supporting Exploratory Design.”
• Raj Sinha, Ph.D. in Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, (Co-advised with Prof. Khosla), Graduated in January 2002. Dissertation: “Compositional Design of Engineered Systems.”
• Khaled Al-Ajmi, M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, Graduated in August 2001. Thesis: “Object-oriented modeling of train systems.”
• Antonio Diaz-Calderon, Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering at Carnegie Mellon, (Co-advised with Prof. Khosla), Graduated in June 2000. Dissertation: “A Composable Simulation Environment to Support the Design of Mechatronic Systems.”