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Concurrent Engineering

DOI: 10.1177/1063293X03038367 2003; 11; 289 Concurrent Engineering

Abdalla Ahmed Al-Ashaab, Karina Rodriguez, Arturo Molina, Mauro Cardenas, Joaquin Aca, Mohammed Saeed and Hassan

Internet-Based Collaborative Design for an Injection-moulding System

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CONCURRENT ENGINEERING: Research and Applications

Internet-based Collaborative Design for an Injection-moulding System

Ahmed Al-Ashaab,1,* Karina Rodrıguez,1 Arturo Molina,2 Mauro Cardenas,2

Joaquın Aca,2 Mohammed Saeed3 and Hassan Abdalla4

1School of Engineering and Built Environment, Wolverhampton University, Wulfruna Street,

Wolverhampton, WV1, 1SB, England2Concurrent Engineering Research Group, CSIM/DIA, ITESM Campus Monterrey,

E. Garza Sada Sur 250, C.P. 64849, Monterrey, N.L. Mexico3Department of Computer Science and Information Systems, Chester College of Higher Education,

Parkgate Road,CH1 4BJ, Chester, UK4Department of Design Management and Communications, DeMontfort University, Fletcher Building,

The Gateway, Leicester, UK

Abstract: Nowadays, the globalization of the manufacturing enterprises requires collaboration across frontiers. In order to attain effective

collaboration, the information about the product life cycle must be captured and administrated in a way that supports the decision taken during

the product development. In this context, the manufacturing process information needs to be shared between manufacturers. This paper

introduces the SPEED (Supporting Plastic enginEEring Development) system designed to facilitate the sharing of injection-moulding

information between interested parties via the Internet. Both the architecture and the functionality of the SPEED system are presented and

described in this paper through a case study. The evolving issues are addressed. Finally, closing remarks and conclusions of the system are

presented.

Key Words: design for mouldability, manufacturing model, injection-moulding process information, collaborative product development, design

for manufacturability over internet.

1. Introduction

Global manufacturing is an on-going tendencysupported by advanced information technologies andglobal marketing. Nowadays, it is common to see thatproduct engineering, tooling, manufacturing, and finalassembly of a product are done in companies situated indifferent countries in the world. The different teamsinvolved in the product development have differentexpertise and knowledge that is not shared among them.The lack of interrelated knowledge about all the productlife cycle activities is one of the most common problemsfacing industry in the process of product development.

The collaboration between the distributed teams isdifficult due to the distance and the difference ofperspectives and knowledge used in their activities.This collaboration requires good coordination andadministration of the product life cycle informationand knowledge in order to support the taking of right

engineering decisions. The information technologies andthe Internet can support this need by providing themechanism of capturing and providing knowledge andinformation in real time, secure and in a less expensiveway. These technologies can also provide a solutionfor the collaborative work between different teamssituated physically in different places of the world.The challenge is to allow accessibility to the knowledgeof the product life cycle to all those involved in thedevelopment of a product. The research work tofacilitate the collaboration among the geographicallydistributed companies is called Collaborative ProductDevelopment (CPD) systems [9]. The research presentedin this paper is considered part of this CPD researcheffort.

This paper presents the SPEED (SupportingPlastic enginEErng Development) system designed tofacilitate the sharing of injection-moulding informationand knowledge between interested parties via theInternet. Section 2 presents the activity modeling ofthe injection-moulded product as well as the needfor capturing manufacturing process information.Section 3 presents the injection-modeling processinformation. Sections 4 and 5 describe both the archi-

*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.E-mail: [email protected]

Volume 11 Number 4 December 2003 2891063-293X/03/04 0289–11 $10.00/0 DOI: 10.1177/1063293X03038367

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tecture and the functionality of the SPEED systemthrough a case study. The evolving issues are addressed.Finally, discussion of the results and conclusions of thesystem are presented in Sections 6 and 7.

2. Injection-moulded ProductDevelopment Representation

Prior to developing an effective collaboration betweendistributed teams, it was necessary to determine whichactivities of the product life cycle were going to besupported and the information needed to be captured.Therefore, an activity modeling using IDEF0 techni-ques [5] was performed with several industrial spon-sor companies. Figure 1 shows the key activities of theplastic product development. These are product specif-ication definition, product engineering, mould designand fabrication, and production. The customers’requirements are the input for defining the productspecifications activity which itself will produce thespecification data that controls the product engineeringactivity. The product engineering activity involvesdesigning analysis, optimizing, testing, and validationactivities to engineer a product that meets the customers’needs. There are many commercial CAD/CAE toolsthat could be used to support these activities butthey lack the knowledge required to support takingthe right engineering decisions. The designers andengineers themselves take decisions depending on

their personal experiences. The lack of captured knowl-edge related to the injection-moulding process andresources capabilities is a common problem in theplastic industry, as some decisions taken in this stageimpact other downstream activities, mainly mouldfabrication and the production of the plastic part.

Each of these activities provides information that isused by other activities to support intelligent decisionmaking. Time and effort could be saved if the requiredinformation is provided in the correct time and place.This information represents the experiences gained bythe engineers in different departments as well as thecapabilities of the manufacturing resources used in theproduction area. We call this ‘‘Manufacturing ProcessInformation’’ and is not yet captured and used by anysystem [9].

The following sections present the modeling ofthe injection-moulding process information and itsdevelopment in the SPEED system to support thecollaborative product development.

3. Injection-moulding ProcessInformation Representation

The manufacturing process information needs to becaptured and shared with all those involved in thedifferent activities of the product life cycle. Beforecapturing this information in the software system, aformal method to represent it is needed. In this work the

Figure 1. Key activities in plastic product development.

290 A. AL-ASHAAB ET AL.



EXPRESS-G [7] has been used for the informationmodeling [1]. There are three key activities involved inthe development of injected moulded parts: productengineering, the mould engineering and the production.As such, knowledge of plastic part mouldability(manufacturability), mould design and fabrication andinjection-moulding machine capabilities is required tosupport the engineering applications. This knowledgeis represented in a Manufacturing Model [1], whichis an information model to capture and represent themanufacturing process information (process and resou-rces capabilities). This is used as a common source ofinformation to ensure manufacturing data integritybetween the interacting design and manufacturingactivities. Hence, the Manufacturing Model of thiswork was divided into three hierarchical trees, theyare: Mouldability Features, Injection-mould Elements,and Injection-moulding Machine Elements as illustratedin Figure 2. The injection moulding process infor-mation was obtained from literature [2,3,6,8] and datacollected from the plastic industry, especially thecosponsors of the SPEED project. The manufacturingdata integrity was achieved by:

. Capturing and representing the details of datadefinition including the constraints imposed on thedata.

. Capturing the interaction between objects in the samehierarchical tree.

. Capturing the interaction between objects in differenthierarchical trees.

The following sections present in some detail themodeling of the injection-moulded features. Also a casestudy is used to explain their implementation in theSPEED system.

3.1 Representing the MouldabilityFeatures Knowledge

To explore the representation of the mouldabilityknowledge related to the injection-moulding process,a features-based approach has been adopted and calledMouldability Features. Such features are wall, reinforce-ments (rib, boss, and web), hole, corner shape, partingline, weld line, gate position, and ejection position. Eachfeature was represented as an object that is defined byseveral attributes. Mouldability constraints of eachattribute and their interactions with other features werecaptured to ensure the manufacturability of the plasticpart. The wall and rib features are presented in somedetail in the following subsections in order to demon-strate the knowledge structure.

3.1.1 REPRESENTING THE MOULDABILITY OFA WALL FEATURE

One of the characteristics of the injection-mouldingprocess is that it is only possible to produce thin-walledproducts. The length and the thickness of the walls

Mouldability Mouldability

FeatureFeature

WallWall

Pris maticWall

Rotational Wall

Transition Wall

Wall with angle

Curved Wall

ReinforcementReinforcement

Rib

Boss

Web

HoleHole

Blind Ho le

Corner Corner ShapeShape

PartingParting LineLine

WeWe ld LiLi ne

GaGa te PoPo s ition

EjEj ection PoPo s ition

PlasticPlasticProductProduct

has is moulded by

is p

rodu

ced

by

Clamping

Unit

Injection

Unit

Injection Injection

Moulding Moulding

MachineMachine

Subsurface Gate

CoCo r e CavityCavity

Ventnt in g g SySy s tem

CoCo oling SySy s tem

EjEj ection SySy s tem

SpSp r ue

G ating ng SySy s tem

RuRu n ner SySy s tem

FeFe e d SySy s tem

Pin

Conventional Pin

Two-Step Pin

Three-Step Pin

Sleeve Pin

Gate

Tab Gate

Overlap Gate

Fan Gate

Winkle Gate

Sprue Gate

Ring Gate

Diaphram Gate

Film Gate

Pin Gate

Round Edge Gate

Rectangular Edge Gate

Air Ejector

Blade Ejector

Stripper Bar Ejector

Stripper Ring Ejector

Stripper Plate Ejector

Valve Ejector

Injection Injection Mould Mould

ElementsElements

Figure 2. Injection-moulding ‘‘Manufacturing Model’’ representation.

Collaborative Design for an Injection-moulding System 291



need to have the recommended values by the materialprovider as a reference point. The wall can be consideredas the main feature of a plastic product, where otherfeatures (e.g. ribs, bosses, holes, etc.) are going to beplaced on. Therefore, the mouldability of these featuresdepends on the wall in which these are put on.Figure 3 illustrates the wall attributes that must be

considered to ensure the manufacturability of the plasticpart. These are:

. Direction and position to define its position within theplastic part. This will effect the definition of otherfeatures as well as to detect intersection with otherwall features.

. Thickness: too thick a wall causes mouldabilityproblems like sink marks, shrinkage, and bending;too thin a wall causes short shot problems. Typicalthickness is 1–5mm.

. Length and width related to the thickness. The thickerthe wall, the longer they could be.

. Draft angle: it is important to facilitate ejecting thepart from the mould.

. Maximum load position helps to determine thesuitable rib position for rigidity.

3.1.2 REPRESENTING THE MOULDABILITY OFA RIB FEATURERibs are commonly used to give strength and rigidity

to the plastic product. At the same time, ribs help to

have thinner walls and therefore reduce the amount ofmaterial and later the cooling time. To prevent ribmouldability problems, mainly the sink mark and shortshot, its design must consider the wall thickness onwhich it is placed. Figure 3 illustrates the rib attributesand their interactions with the wall feature, which mustbe considered to ensure the manufacturability of theplastic part. These are:

. Direction and position effect other features definitionand help to detect possible intersection among theribs. Ribs should be placed where the maximum loadis expected on the wall.

. Height and width: key rib’s attributes that must beconsidered carefully to avoid sink marks that mayappear due to the thick material section. On the otherhand, too high a rib makes it harder to manufacturethe mould and to fill it with material during theprocessing, especially if the width is also too small.The rules for the maximum permitted height andwidth are:

Rib_height¼ (3�Wall_thickness)þ 0.85Rib_width¼ 2/3�Wall_thickness

. Draft angle: it is important to facilitate ejecting thepart from the mould.

. Base radius: to prevent stress concentrations.

. Distance between ribs: to allow easy flow ofmaterial.

Mouldability Features

Weld Line

Parting Line

Hole

Ejection Position

Reinforcement

Blind Hole

RiRibPrismatic

Wall

Rotational Wall

Gate Position

REAL

INTEGER

REAL

REAL

BOOLEAN

REAL

INTEGER

Web

attached_on_wall

NoR

ein

heightwidth

distanceReinuse_rib

thicknesslength

draft_angle

max_load_position

radi

usou

tsid

e_co

rner

_rad

ius

stre

ss_c

onst

_rad

ius

desi

red_

min

_rad

ius

gated_wallconnect_wall1connect_wall2

NoGate

rein_wall

base

_fil

let

Corner Shape

blin

d_ho

le_w

all_

angl

e

dept

h

diam

eter

dist

ance

_wal

ldi

stan

ce_h

ole

leng

th

caus

ed_b

y_ho

le

Transition Wall

dire

ctio

npo

siti

on

width

base

_rad

ius

draf

t_an

gle

WalWall

Boss

Figure 3. Representation of the mouldability features.




3.1.3 REPRESENTING THE OTHERMOULDABILITY FEATURES

A similar modeling technique was performed on therest of the mouldability features, which are modeled inEXPRESS-G shown in Figure 3. The figure shows theMouldability Feature abstract class, which puts theONE OF constraint on its subentities of Wall,Reinforcement, Hole, Corner Shape, Weld Line,Parting Line, Ejection, and Gate Position. Each ofthese features has attributes and constraints captured toavoid mouldability problems.

4. The SPEED System Architecture

SPEED (Supporting Plastic enginEEring Develop-ment) is a prototype system that supports the need ofcapturing and sharing the injection-moulding processand resources capabilities over the Internet. It aids theintegrated product development by ensuring the provi-sion of the right manufacturing process information atthe right time and place.

SPEED is a Web-based system that uses theInternet and object-oriented database technologies.These technologies provide an easy and effective wayto distribute the manufacturing process informationalong the companies in the extended enterprise. Thesystem was developed using Java and Object StoreOODBMS in order to provide an efficient retrievalof the data and management of the manufacturinginformation. The Manufacturing Model was capturedin an object-oriented database according to the repre-sentation explained in the previous section. Thisdatabase resides on a Silicon Graphics server, which

also works as a web server. Currently, the access to theweb server is restricted for internal testing due tosecurity reasons. The engineering applications accessand use the Manufacturing Model informationthrough the WWW. This system architecture is illustra-ted in Figure 4(a), while Figure 4(b) shows the SPEEDsystem’s main page. There are three engineering decisionsupport applications so far. They are: the design formouldability of the plastic part, the selection of theproduction equipment and the supporting of the moulddesign.

5. Injection-moulded Product Development inSPEED: A Case Study

To give a detailed description of the SPEED func-tionality, the plastic part shown in Figure 5 is used asa case study. Only the ‘‘design for mouldability’’application is presented.

5.1 The SPEED Design for MouldabilityApplication

The ‘‘design for mouldability’’ application is con-cerned with ensuring that product functional featurescan be moulded without problems. The applicationalso provides feedback advice to the designer regardingthe design issue under consideration. This applicationis supported by the mouldability features repre-sentation in the Manufacturing Model. Moreover, dueto the interaction between the data, the impacts of the

Figure 4. The SPEED system.




product manufacturability on the injection mould andmachine are considered and highlighted in the SPEEDsystem.The ‘‘design for mouldability’’ application window

is as shown in Figure 6. The user needs to input

the product general information, as illustrated inFigure 5-A. As previously explained, the SPEEDsystem uses the design-by-feature approach. In thefollowing subsections some of the features of the casestudy product will be outlined in detail.

Side wall

Rib

Web

Holes

Boss

Base wall D

D = boss diameter

d

d

d = hole diameter

2*t

2*t

2*t

2*t

2*t

t = base wall thickness

General description: Thin wall productMaximum length: 600 mmMaximum width: 400 mmMaximum depth: 100 mmWeight: 0.5 kgPlastic: Polyethylene (HD)Texture: Smooth

300 mm

200 mm

400 mm

600 mm

-A-

-B- -C-

70 mm

50 mm

50

Figure 5. SPEED Case study. -A- Case study general description in 2D; -B- Design for function; -C- Design for mouldability.

Figure 6. Defining the base wall feature in SPEED. A – Moudability features menu; B – Feedback advice to the user, C – 2D illustration drawing;D – Product information input values; E – OK Button.




5.1.1 DESIGN FOR MOULDABILITY OF AWALL FEATURE

To start defining the product, the first feature thatmust be considered is the wall feature. The features areselected by pressing the buttons on the top of theapplication and are defined by filling in the fields onthe right hand side of the screen. Figure 6 shows the‘‘BaseWall’’ definition. The values required for thewall are direction, length, width, thickness, draft angle,initial position, and applied force position. Those arethe attributes captured in the wall object as explainedin Section 3.1.1. The SPEED system checks their valuesagainst the constraints captured in the ManufacturingModel and sends an advice to the user in the feedbacksection.

In the case of the ‘‘BaseWall’’, the thickness has beendefined as 13mm for the sake of the case study. TheSPEED sends a feedback advising to make a thinnerwall (and consequently add a rib) with the value of‘‘3.5mm’’ which is the recommendation of the plasticmaterial selected by the designer of the part underconsideration. The direction of the wall is used todetermine if the wall needs a draft angle, in this case,a draft angle is not needed, as the direction isperpendicular to the opening axis of the injectionmachine. The applied force position is used to suggestwhere the rib should be placed in order to give therequired stiffness. The user interacts with the systemto modify the values as it was advised. Finally, bypressing ‘‘OK’’ the ‘‘Base Wall’’ definition is rechecked.If the data falls within the mouldability constraint the

wall is created as part of the plastic product definition,which is represented in an object.

5.1.2 DESIGN FOR MOULDABILITY OF ARIB FEATURE

In order to have the same wall rigidity, as in theoriginal design, a rib feature will be needed. It will becreated automatically by the SPEED system. SPEEDmakes all the calculations of the rib attributes that are de-fined in the manufacturing model (refer to Section 3.1.2)considering the constraint applied to each attribute. Therib values are shown as default values in Figure 7.The position of the rib, also by default, will be wherethe maximum load is expected on the wall feature. Thisshould have been defined in the wall session, otherwiseit would be considered in the center of the wall. TheSPEED system user will have the freedom to change anyvalue registered and checked by the system to evaluatewhether they are within the mouldability constraint ofthe process. For the sake of argument and demonstra-tion, the rib attributes have been changed to some valuesout of the limit of the injection-moulding process.SPEED will make the evaluation and send a feedbackadvice to the user with the recommended values asillustrated in Figure 7. On the other hand, if there are noproblems, the system will simply inform and allow theuser to continue defining the product. In the case ofthe rib, the system suggests to add another rib toreinforce the rigidity of the product. This is done byselecting the rib feature from the menu and changingor accepting the default values.

Figure 7. System suggestion when adding a rib.




5.1.3 DESIGN FOR MOULDABILITY OFOTHER FEATURES IN SPEEDA similar procedure is followed with the rest of the

features until the product is within the mouldabilityconstraints as shown in Figure 5-C. The Design forMouldability application is flexible regarding thefeatures definition and their interactions. Its detaileddescription lays beyond the scope and the space limita-tion of this paper. As shown in Figure 8, every time a newfeature is created, the system draws a simple repre-sentation of each feature in 2D. This basic representationhelps to have an idea of the product being constructed.

6. Discussion of the SPEED Results

In the world of integrated marketing, the globalmanufacturing collaboration is essential in order tosustain and improve the market share. However, theeffectiveness of such collaboration depends on theavailability and the management of informationand knowledge required through product development.The SPEED system is a prototype that supports thiscollaboration. This is because it is an Internet knowl-edge-based information system where the processknowledge is represented in detail to support andensure that right engineering decisions are taken. Theuse of the Internet makes the information availableat any time and place and in a format easy to use

and understand. The system architecture supports thesimultaneous use of the system by many users, whocould be distributed geographically, in real time. TheSPEED system provides the users with a mechanismwhere products, mould, and machine information couldbe seen at any time during the development process.For example pressing the ‘‘Product Information’’ button(as shown in Figures 6–8) brings a window with thedetailed definition of the product in that stage. This isone means of collaboration by sharing the informationthroughout the development process. In addition,further research is being conducted in order to includevideo and audio communication tools that make moreeffective the real time interaction among the geographi-cally distributed team members.

The SPEED has been tested and presented throughdemonstration several times with the Mexican andBritish plastic industries. Their feedback has beenfocused on two main issues, support 3D drawing andthe cost application. The Java 3D has been testedand has already been integrated into the system. Inaddition, while the system supports the developmentof complex injection-moulded parts at certain extent;more work is required to represent the complexgeometry of such part. Furthermore, a mechanism tointegrate CAD to the system is an issue that needsto be addressed. The commercial advances in whatis called Collaborative Product Commerce systems,i.e., OneSpace Collaboration [4], are promising for

DESIGN FOR MOULDABILITY

Home Product Information Plastic Information Load a product Help

Ejection PinGate PositionWeld LineParting LineCorner ShapeChannelHole Rib Prismatic Wall

----------BaseWall SPEED_Test

Product Drawing

Y

Z

Y

X

Web

Name:

Length (mm):

Base radius (mm):

Thickness (mm):

Draft Angle:

Height (mm)

Initial pos. (X,Y,Z):

Web2

5

0.5

2

1

11

(0,80,0)

OK Clear All

Feedback

***CONFIRM***

The Web2 is within the mouldability constraint

Web2 HAS BEEN CREATED

You can continue defining other features

The Web2 is within the mouldability constraint

Web2 HAS BEEN CREATED

You can continue defining other features

Figure 8. Product graphic representation in SPEED.




addressing this issue. The cost application is wellunderstood by the research team and it is a questionof time to develop it and integrate to the system.

An approach, such as the SPEED system, will helpthe plastic industry to capture their knowledge andexperiences and then acts as an intellectual propertysystem. This could be considered feasible amongthe partners of one industrial group, who are boundedby common financial interests. However, sharing theknow-how knowledge among the subcontractors is anissue that needs to be addressed from the managementpoint of view.

7. Conclusions

SPEED is an information system based on theInternet, which supports the integrated injection-moulding product development. This research projectproves that the mouldability rules of the featuresof a product and its knowledge involved can becaptured and shared through the Internet to supportthe global manufacturing collaboration.

The use of the ‘‘design for mouldability’’ applicationcan be customized in accordance with user requirements.The features presented in this work are common to allplastic products; this allows the definition of a greatvariety of products no matter the complexity of thegeometry. The manufacturing process information wasobtained from the existing literature about the injection-moulding process [2,3,6,8]. Each plastic company uses itsown variations of rules based on the experience of itsdesigners and other engineers. Because of these, beforemaking the technology transfer to an industry, acustomised process is required to capture the newknowledge and adapt it to the specific company’srequirements. The structure of the information can beapplied to different kinds of manufacturing processes,such as casting. This capability allows the application ofthis concept to another industry.

SPEED stimulates collaboration between interna-tional companies, where for instance product engi-neering is taking place in the USA, Europe, or Japanwhile the manufacturing is carried out in Mexico. Thissupports the production of a better, cost effectiveproduct in less time. Hence, the SPEED systemensures the integration and collaboration among thegeographically distributed companies.

Acknowledgment

The Carplastic, VITRO Ensers Domestico, Ponds,The British Council office Mexico City, and the CSIMof the ITESM Campus Monterrey have sponsoredthis work in Mexico. Metadata and Excelon have

provided the database ObjectStore. The Engineeringdivision of Wolverhampton University sponsors thePhD scholarship of Miss Karina Rodriguez. Theauthors wish to acknowledge the sponsors for theirsupport.

References

1. Al-Ashaab, A.H.S and Young, R.I.Y. (1997). ModellingManufacturing Process Information using the ExpressLanguage. The Special Issue of Concurrent EngineeringResearch and Application Journal ‘‘CERA’’ on EnterpriseIntegration and Management.

2. Berins, M.L. (ed.) (1991). Plastic Engineering Handbook,Van Nostrand Reinhold, New York.

3. Bralla, J.G. (1986). Handbook of Product Design forManufacturing, McGraw-Hill Inc, New York.

4. Cocreate 2003, http://www2.cocreate.com/

5. Coloquhun, G.J., Baines, R.W. and Crossley, R. (1993).A State of the Art Review of IDEF0, International Journalof Computer Integrated Manufacture, 6(4): 252–264.

6. Dym, J.B. (1987). Injection Molds and Molding, A PracticalManual, Van Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York,ISBN 0-442-21785-4.

7. EXPRESS 1992. EXPRESS Language Reference Manual,ISO DIS 10303-11.

8. Pye, R.G.W. (1989). Injection Mould Design, LongmanScientific & Technical, EU.

9. Rodriguez, K. and Al-Ashaab, A. (2002). A review ofInternet based collaborative product development systems.In: Proceedings of 9th ISPE International Conference onConcurrent Engineering: Research and Applications,Cranfield, UK.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Ashaab

Dr. Ahmed Al-Ashaab is aSenior Lecturer in the Schoolof Engineering and Built Envir-onment in the University ofWolverhampton. Ahmed obtai-ned his PhD from Loughbor-ough University in 1994. Sincethen he has worked in theITESM Campus Monterrey inMexico where 50% of histime was spent working withMexican Industry. He has been

active in introducing and implementing NPI/D meth-odologies based on Concurrent Engineering within theMexican manufacturing companies. He is the Founderand was the President of the Mexican Society ofConcurrent Engineering. He is the leader of on goingproject of Internet-based Intelligent Information systemto support the plastic product development. His researchinterests are CE, Knowledge-based Engineering,Extended and Virtual Enterprises and Collaborative




Product Development. Dr. Al-Ashaab has written manyinternational publications and participated in severalof the conference committees and session chair.Dr. Al-Ashaab is the publicity chair of the ISPE/CE2xxx Series Conferences.

Karina Rodriguez

Karina Rodriguez is a PhDstudent in the School of Engi-neering and Built Environmentin the Wolverhampton Univer-sity. She got a Computer Sci-ence honours degree from theITESM Campus Monterrey inMexico in 1999. She workedas Research Assistant in theCSIM of ITESM campusMonterrey in the SPEED proj-ect. Her research interests are

Knowledge-based Engineering, Information Modelingand Internet-based Collaborative Product Development.

Dr. Arturo Molina

Dr. Arturo Molina is TitularProfessor in the CSIM-ITESMCampus Monterrey. Arturoobtained his PhD fromLoughborough University in1995. His research Interestsare CE, Knowledge-basedEngineering, Virtual Enter-prises and Enterprise Model-ing. He was coordinatingseveral international projectsin the area of virtual enterprise.Dr. Molina has written manyinternational publications and

participated in several conference committees andsession chair.

Mauro Cardenas

Mauro Cardenas graduatedfrom Mechanical and ElectricalEngineering from the ITESMCampus Monterrey in 2001.He worked in the SPEEDproject for 2 years. He hasjoined the Mabe GE Plasticas product design engineer.His research interests areCE, CAD/CAM/CAE andInternet-based CollaborativeProduct Development.

Joaquın Aca

Joaquın Aca, graduatedfrom Mechanical and Electri-cal Engineering from theITESM Campus Monterreyin 2000. He is currentlydoing his Masters in AdvanceManufacturing System inCSIM ITESM Campus Mon-terrey. He has been workingin several Knowledge-basedEngineering projects withthe Mexican Industry. Hisresearch interests are CEand KBE.

Dr. Mohammed Saeed

Dr. Mohammed Saeed is aSenior Lecturer in ComputerScience & Information SystemsDepartment of the ChesterCollege of Higher Educationin the. He got his PhD inComputer Science fromLoughborough University in1992. His research interest areInformation System, ObjectOriented Methodologies andInternet-based CollaborativeProduct Development.

Professor Hassan Abdalla

Professor Hassan Abdalla iscurrently the Head of Depart-ment of Design Managementand Communication at DeMontfort University in theUK and a leading authorityin the field of rapid andsustainable product devel-opment, concurrent engi-neering, and design forassembly/dis-assembly. Thefounder of the rapid productdevelopment research group

at De Montfort University Leicester which has a highreputation, both on a national and an internationallevel. It has very strong links with a numberof organisations and institutions world-wide. Fora number of years, Professor Abdalla worked in




industry before joining academia. He is the author/co-author of more than 80 research papers publishedin international journals and refereed conferences.He has been invited as a keynote speaker forseveral conferences and currently serving on the

technical reviewing committees of a numberof journals. Professor Abdalla has led severalnational and international funded projects, fromboth the Commission of the European Union andEPSRC.




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