Didactic proposals on modelling in mathematics education mostly give priority to models which describe, explain as well as partially forecast and provide mathematical solutions to real situations. A view of the modelling concept of informatics, which also initiates rapidly generalised deliberations of models, can also make a contribution to the spectrum of models, which are treated in a meaningful sense in mathematics lessons so as to expand some interesting aspects. In this paper, this is illustrated by means of conceptual design models – and, here, especially of process models – using the example of elevator organisation in a multi-storey construction.

The primary research objective was to develop a methodology to support conceptual design of the Hybrid Wing Body (HWB) configuration. The absence of a horizontal tail imposes new stability and control requirements on the planform, and therefore requiring greater emphasis on control authority assessment than is typical for conceptual design. This required investigations into three primary areas of research. The first was to develop a method for designing an appropriate amount of redundancy. This was motivated widely varying numbers of trailing edge elevons in the HWB literature, and inadequate explanations for these early design decisions. The method identifies stakeholders, metrics of interest, and synthesizes these metrics using the Breguet range equation for system level comparison of control surface layouts. The second area of research was the development trim analysis methods that could accommodate redundant control surfaces, for which conventional methods performed poorly. A new measure of control authority was developed for vehicles with redundant controls. This is accomplished using concepts from the control allocation literature such as the attainable moment subset and the direct allocation method. The result is a continuous measure of remaining control authority suitable for use during HWB sizing and optimization. The final research area integrated performance and control authority to create a HWB sizing environment, and investigations into how to use it for design space exploration and vehicle optimization complete the methodology. The Monte Carlo Simulation method is used to map the design space, identify good designs for optimization, and to develop design heuristics. Finally, HWB optimization experiments were performed to discover best practices for conceptual design.

Saab Aeronautics’ section Overall Design and Survivability develops early aircraft concepts and utilizes Computer Aided Design (CAD) to ensure the feasibility of principal- and critical characteristics. Saab has over the years developed several start models of aircrafts in CAD from pre-defined aircraft configurations, which are to some extent non-generic. When new configurations are to be explored, manual- and repetitive work is required if the new configuration cannot be attained solely through parametric modifications of a start model. The complexity of these CAD models also demands great knowledge of how aircraft components interact with each other to ensure compatibility. The project covered in this thesis was thus carried out to develop a more effective way for Saab to create and explore a larger design space. This by creating a framework that consists of a product configurator coupled with a library of generic CAD models. The product configurator that was created is the Saab Tradespace Analyzer & Reconfigurator (STAR), which takes compatibility relationships into consideration to facilitate concept selection. The STAR also provides a dynamic design space calculation to indicate how close the user is to a final concept selection. Two generic CAD models were created, a fuselage model and an air inlet model. A skeleton model was also created in order to reduce model dependencies and to control the main geometry of the aircraft product. In addition to these, an already existing wing model was implemented to form the library of generic CAD models. The framework coupling the STAR with the CAD library utilizes design automation to allow automatic CAD model generation of a concept that has been selected within the STAR. It was concluded through extrapolation that the created framework would allow Saab to create and explore a larger design space in a more effective way than what is done today, provided the library of CAD models were to contain the same number of components as today’s start models.

Projetos de SIG (Sistemas de Informação Geográfica), em geral, ainda não apresentam modelo conceitual de banco de dados geográficos. Os implementadores de SIG se preocupam com a aquisição dos dados (captura e adaptação), que é a etapa mais cara, e dão, ainda, pouca atenção à modelagem. A utilização de modelos conceituais faz com que os usuários controlem melhor sua base de dados e tirem maior proveito do SIG. O objetivo deste trabalho é definir um conjunto de procedimentos de engenharia reversa de bancos de dados espaciais que auxiliem na criação e manutenção de modelos conceituais para aplicações de SIG a partir de dados já existentes. Estes procedimentos podem contribuir para um aumento na qualidade dos SIG implementados, auxiliando na popularização da prática de modelagem conceitual de banco de dados geográficos. São estudados três formatos de transferência utilizados por usuários de SIG. A partir daí, é proposto uma arquitetura de sistema de engenharia reversa para SIG. / Even with the increasing use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), conceptual modeling of geographic databases (GDB) is not yet usual among GIS professionals. This fact can in part be explained by the professional profile of most GIS designers. They usually are more familiar with specific GIS applications than with database technology. Among them, one can find cartographers, geographers, agricultural engineers, and architects. Besides that, the cost of geographic data acquisition is so high that much important is given to acquisition plans during GIS design and less interest is given to the database design process. Especially first time designers do not perceive the importance of a database schema that is independent of a specific GIS product. Conceptual design preserves the independence between data types and the logical schema of the product. Moreover, relying on the GDB conceptual schema users can better understand what part of the geographic reality is represented in the database. The main goal of this research work is to define a set of reverse engineering procedures for spatial databases that can support either creation or evolution if conceptual GDB schemas. It is expected that these procedures can enhance the quality of GDB design as well as contribute to the popularization of GDB conceptual modeling. Three different geographic data input formats to GIS are investigated and a reverse engineering system architecture for them is proposed. Resulting conceptual (sub)schemas are based on the framework GeoFrame.

Afin d’aider les concepteurs à considérer l’environnement dans leur projet de conception de produit, tout en minimisant le temps consacré à cette démarche, une évaluation environnementale simplifiée utilisable dès la phase de conception préliminaire a été définie. La démarche proposée vise à intégrer les règles « Design for Environment » (DfE) au plus tôt dans la conception des produits, en proposant une méthode d’évaluation qui traduit ces règles DfE en indicateurs. Pour mener à bien ce travail de thèse, il nous a fallu construire une base des données des Règles DfE, établir une méthode de choix des règles en fonctions du contexte du projet de conception, établir les règles de calcul des indicateurs liés aux règles DfE et mettre en place des représentations adaptées pour l’interprétation des résultats lors de projets de conception. L’objectif ici est de guider le concepteur au plus tôt vers un bon compromis, par des estimations simples. Cette approche est nécessaire afin d’éviter des modifications significatives à la fin des études détaillées et ainsi de nombreuses boucles essais/erreurs en conception. Une étude de cas permet d’illustrer la démarche proposée. / To help designers to consider the environmental issues for their product design project (green concepts and other sustainable and environmental strategies) and to minimize the time spent with this approach, a simplified environmental assessment usable during the preliminary design stage has been developed.The proposed approach aims to integrate the "Design for Environment" rules (DfE rules) early in the product design while proposing a method that translates these rules into DfE indicators (quantitative value).To carry out this work, we had to: firstly build a database of DfE rules, secondly establish a method to choose these rules in the context of the design project objectives, thirdly establish calculation formula for the indicators

A criação do projeto conceitual de um bancos de dados que represente adequadamente um determinado domínio de aplicação continua sendo um dos principais desafios da área de banco de dados. Por outro lado, a discussão sobre métodos ágeis de desenvolvimento de software alcançou, recentemente, a comunidade de banco de dados. Este trabalho apresenta o projeto conceitual de bancos de dados sob a luz de métodos ágeis de desenvolvimento. Desenvolvemos uma extensão do arcabouço Naked Objects que permite uma validação ágil e precisa do projeto conceitual junto ao especialista do domínio. Em nossa abordagem, o projeto conceitual de bancos de dados é descrito por meio de anotações que representam as abstrações de dados em um ambiente dinâmico de validação. / Creating a conceptual database design that adequately represents a specific application domain continues to be one of the main challenges in the database research. On the other hand, the discussion regarding agile methods of software development has recently become a subject of interest to the database community. This work presents a new approach to create a conceptual database design according to agile methods. We have created an extension of the Naked Objects framework that allows an agile and precise validation of the conceptual database design by the domain specialist. In our approach, the conceptual database design is described through annotations that represent data abstractions in a dynamic validation environment.

Projetos de SIG (Sistemas de Informação Geográfica), em geral, ainda não apresentam modelo conceitual de banco de dados geográficos. Os implementadores de SIG se preocupam com a aquisição dos dados (captura e adaptação), que é a etapa mais cara, e dão, ainda, pouca atenção à modelagem. A utilização de modelos conceituais faz com que os usuários controlem melhor sua base de dados e tirem maior proveito do SIG. O objetivo deste trabalho é definir um conjunto de procedimentos de engenharia reversa de bancos de dados espaciais que auxiliem na criação e manutenção de modelos conceituais para aplicações de SIG a partir de dados já existentes. Estes procedimentos podem contribuir para um aumento na qualidade dos SIG implementados, auxiliando na popularização da prática de modelagem conceitual de banco de dados geográficos. São estudados três formatos de transferência utilizados por usuários de SIG. A partir daí, é proposto uma arquitetura de sistema de engenharia reversa para SIG. / Even with the increasing use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), conceptual modeling of geographic databases (GDB) is not yet usual among GIS professionals. This fact can in part be explained by the professional profile of most GIS designers. They usually are more familiar with specific GIS applications than with database technology. Among them, one can find cartographers, geographers, agricultural engineers, and architects. Besides that, the cost of geographic data acquisition is so high that much important is given to acquisition plans during GIS design and less interest is given to the database design process. Especially first time designers do not perceive the importance of a database schema that is independent of a specific GIS product. Conceptual design preserves the independence between data types and the logical schema of the product. Moreover, relying on the GDB conceptual schema users can better understand what part of the geographic reality is represented in the database. The main goal of this research work is to define a set of reverse engineering procedures for spatial databases that can support either creation or evolution if conceptual GDB schemas. It is expected that these procedures can enhance the quality of GDB design as well as contribute to the popularization of GDB conceptual modeling. Three different geographic data input formats to GIS are investigated and a reverse engineering system architecture for them is proposed. Resulting conceptual (sub)schemas are based on the framework GeoFrame.

Projetos de SIG (Sistemas de Informação Geográfica), em geral, ainda não apresentam modelo conceitual de banco de dados geográficos. Os implementadores de SIG se preocupam com a aquisição dos dados (captura e adaptação), que é a etapa mais cara, e dão, ainda, pouca atenção à modelagem. A utilização de modelos conceituais faz com que os usuários controlem melhor sua base de dados e tirem maior proveito do SIG. O objetivo deste trabalho é definir um conjunto de procedimentos de engenharia reversa de bancos de dados espaciais que auxiliem na criação e manutenção de modelos conceituais para aplicações de SIG a partir de dados já existentes. Estes procedimentos podem contribuir para um aumento na qualidade dos SIG implementados, auxiliando na popularização da prática de modelagem conceitual de banco de dados geográficos. São estudados três formatos de transferência utilizados por usuários de SIG. A partir daí, é proposto uma arquitetura de sistema de engenharia reversa para SIG. / Even with the increasing use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS), conceptual modeling of geographic databases (GDB) is not yet usual among GIS professionals. This fact can in part be explained by the professional profile of most GIS designers. They usually are more familiar with specific GIS applications than with database technology. Among them, one can find cartographers, geographers, agricultural engineers, and architects. Besides that, the cost of geographic data acquisition is so high that much important is given to acquisition plans during GIS design and less interest is given to the database design process. Especially first time designers do not perceive the importance of a database schema that is independent of a specific GIS product. Conceptual design preserves the independence between data types and the logical schema of the product. Moreover, relying on the GDB conceptual schema users can better understand what part of the geographic reality is represented in the database. The main goal of this research work is to define a set of reverse engineering procedures for spatial databases that can support either creation or evolution if conceptual GDB schemas. It is expected that these procedures can enhance the quality of GDB design as well as contribute to the popularization of GDB conceptual modeling. Three different geographic data input formats to GIS are investigated and a reverse engineering system architecture for them is proposed. Resulting conceptual (sub)schemas are based on the framework GeoFrame.

La phase conceptuelle, basée sur des informations imprécises et incomplètes, est à la base de la satisfaction des clients par le futur système. La programmation architecturale se concentre sur une des premières étapes de cette phase dans le domaine de la construction : la définition des besoins d'un bâtiment. Les pratiques et recherches actuelles en Architecture-Ingénierie-Construction ont tendance à être basées sur l'expérience des programmistes et architectes. Elles sont rapidement orientées vers la production de solutions architecturales et avec une formalisation tardive des besoins métiers en exigences bâtiment. La définition des exigences est bien plus développée dans les autres domaines d'ingénierie (i.e. génie mécanique, industriel et logiciel) au sein de théories, modèles, techniques et outils. Ces travaux de recherche visent à proposer un raisonnement de programmation architecturale basé sur ces connaissances en matière d'ingénierie des exigences dans ces autres domaines. La méthodologie suivie pour développer ce raisonnement s'appuie sur une démarche transdisciplinaire basée sur une combinaison de méthodologies issues des Sciences de la Conception. Outre l'identification de langages de modélisation couvrant différent points de vues associées à la programmation architecturale, un manque est identifié en ce qui concerne les concepts définissant l'objet d'étude : la transition entre les concepts d'activité et d'espace. Le concept de ‘‘méta-espace'' est proposé pour combler ce manque ainsi qu'un langage de modélisation permettant l'exploitation des relations entre ces concept. Une formalisation très en amont de la transition des besoins métiers des clients vers les exigences bâtiment est proposée via une démarche conceptuelle résultant de l'ajout du concept de ‘‘méta-espace''. Cette démarche est présentée étape par étape en s'appuyant sur les divers cas d'études traités au cours de la thèse. / The conceptual phase is based on very fuzzy and incomplete information about clients' needs. It constitutes the core of clients' satisfaction about the future system. Architectural programming, or briefing process, focuses on the early stages of the conceptual phase of construction projects, i.e. the requirements definition. Current practices and research in Architecture-Engineering-Construction tend to be experience-based, solution-oriented, and with a late formalisation of business needs into building requirements. The requirements definition is far more supported by theories, models, tools, and techniques in other engineering disciplines (i.e. Mechanical, Industrial, and Software Engineering). This research aims to propose an architectural programming reasoning based on existing requirements engineering knowledge from these other engineering disciplines. The methodology followed to develop this reasoning is a transdisciplinary approach based on a combination of Design Research Methodology, and Design Science. Besides the identification of modelling languages covering different viewpoints associated with the briefing process, a gap is identified regarding modelling constructs associated with a “meta-space” design artefact. This design artefact and its associated modelling language (i.e. the meta-space diagram) support the formalisation of the transition from activities to space. The resulting conceptual framework proposes a step by step early formalisation of the transition from clients' business needs to building requirements. All along the thesis, different case studies are used to illustrate the proposals.

Todays digitized society have open up for new types of office arrangements and possibilities of working from home in a higher extend. This thesis is based on the flexible working culture that is increasing, which means more personal responsibility regarding ergonomic and environment conditions as well as artifacts needed for a well equipped workplace outside the traditional office. Furniture dealers are having a new approach as open office hubs and home office environment are increasing with new needs. This project contains of a small investigation of which artifacts are needed and wanted from a customer perspective in the home environment due to these new behaviors.  This thesis will as well show the outcome and process of one product in a collection of 5 stationary objects. The name of the project is as well the name of the collection. This project consists of two main objectives, customer orientation and product development.