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scanner may automatically file in the Memory all documents pertinent to
a particular project. Parametric design programs may sift through previous
designs for best matches to new requirements.

<P>The application-specific clients of the Memory will all share a layer
of intelligent access capabilities such as near-miss querying,
browsing, natural language interfaces, and self-organization of the
content of the Memory.

<P>An information capture and access testbed is now being implemented.
It is based on several existing information and document systems ranging
from an electronic notebook system to network document and database
access systems to information filters and interfaces. These systems will be
integrated into a unified environment supporting experiments with and
development of enabling technologies for the Corporate Memory.

<A name=prototyping>
<H2>Computational Prototyping</H2>
</A>

Computational prototyping involves the simulation by computer of
complex physical systems and visual display of their behavior to
engineers.  This process, enabled by high-speed network access to
supercomputers, high-performance graphics workstations, scientific
visualization technology, and new parallel computing algorithms, will
replace some of the time consuming building of hardware prototypes with
interactive design at the workstation.

<P>Successful simulations have to date been achieved in several key
physical domains, including flow of fluid and heat in a thermal ink
jet print-head, free surface ejection of a droplet from an acoustically
excited pool of liquid, electrostatic interactions of toner particles
in a xerographic development system, lubricant flow in bearings, and
charge transport in semiconductors. New methods have been developed to
solve these problems on supercomputers. Ultimately the simulations
will run fast enough for interactive use by engineers.

<P>An emerging focus area in Computational Prototyping is
Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems. In collaboration with departments of
Electrical Engineering and Theoretical and Applied Mechanics,
computational tools are being developed that will lead to an improved
understanding of MEMS electromechanical behaviors. Specific areas of
research include reliability and failure modes in these structures, as
well as techniques for sensitivity analysis and optimal design of
MEMS. This project is being funded by the NSF's MEMS program.
 
<P>A research goal is to develop a flexible, powerful, yet friendly
environment supplying computational and graphics resources that enable
an engineer to employ simulation as an everyday design tool. The DRI
vision is of an integrated environment providing easy-to-use
simulation and visualization capabilities for engineers at Xerox and
other partner companies driven by Cornell supercomputers. Intelligent
browsing capability and online documentation are key components of
the vision.

<P>Building toward this goal is <i>Protolab</i>, a computing
environment for engineering simulation featuring automatic generation
of simulation programs from high-leVel descriptions and an object
oriented library of models and methods.  A research proposal on the
development of Protolab, submitted jointly with General Electric and
Cornell Computer Science, has been selected as a potential funding
candidate by ARPA.

<A NAME=collaboration>
<H2>Collaboration Technology</H2>
</A>

The Design Research Institute recognizes that the way engineers work
together as a team is as important as their individual contributions.
Thus collaboration technology forms the third component of the DRI
research agenda. DRI activities in this area are in providing shared
access to objects in the Corporate Memory and in enabling effective
communication among engineers. Toward the latter, a cooperative
engineering environment is under development featuring structured
dialog among members of a team to facilitate resolution of engineering
changes during product design.

<P>Research in this area is just beginning, but is expected to grow to
involve analysis of engineering processes and development of
additional tools to facilitate collaboration. Of special interest is
enabling effective teamwork among engineers separated by several time
zones.

<H2>Corporate Participation</H2>

Companies joining the Institute typically will participate by locating
research staff on campus. In the case of Xerox, the founding partner, a
group of seven scientists within the Corporate Research Group was
permanently established at Cornell. Xerox provides to Cornell a yearly
grant which offsets the cost of its offices and support services.

<P>Corporate partners benefit from participation in DRI in several ways.

<P>The companies leverage both their intellectual investment and their
financial investment through participation in collaborative research with
university faculty and students as well as scientists from other partner
companies. Government or other external funding is expected to support
the Cornell affiliates.

<P>Through on-site collaboration, partner companies have direct
involvement in establishing the research agenda of the Institute.
Problems can be drawn from an industrial context and distilled into
fundamental research questions. This approach provides a new scale and
perspective that is unusual in academic research, but which promises
exceptional synergy.

<P>Partner companies also have convenient first access to research
developments in DRI, including research involving scientists from other
companies. There are many avenues of technology transfer, including
joint projects with off-campus company units and hosting of visiting
scientists on campus.

<H2>Intellectual Property Rights</H2>

Most research in the Design Research Institute is intended to be open
and non-proprietary. Results will be available for use by partner companies
as developed and will be published in scientific journals as appropriate.

<P>To cover ownership rights to inventions deriving from current DRI
research, an intellectual property rights agreement has been reached in
principle between Cornell and Xerox. It provides that rights to inventions
of a Xerox employee shall be covered by standard Xerox policy and that
rights to inventions of a Cornell employee shall be covered by standard
Cornell policy. In the case of a joint invention by Xerox and Cornell
employees, rights shall be jointly owned.  Joint ownership generally implies
that each party has the right to use or license the invention independently
as either party wishes. In the case of DRI, joint ownership has been
redefined by the parties for the mutual benefit of both parties.

<P>When additional corporate partners join DRI the issue of intellectual
property rights will be revisited, but it is expected that agreements
developed to cover the new partners will be similar to the
Xerox-Cornell model.

<H2>Steering Committee and Institute Organization</H2>

Policy for the Institute is established by a Steering Committee, whose
membership includes representatives of Cornell and each of the
partner companies. At present the committee consists of three Cornell
members and five Xerox members.

<P>When additional corporate partners join DRI, an Institute office will
be created to augment the offices of the individual companies. A director is
expected to be named at that time. Until then, Cornell and Xerox are
sharing in the administration of DRI.

<P>As the Institute grows, it is envisioned to include separate branches
focusing on key areas of DRI research. The branches will engage various
units of Cornell, and partner companies and government agencies may
participate in any or all of the branches as they choose.

<HR>

Design Research Institute<br>
502 Engineering and Theory Center<br>
Cornell University<br>
Ithaca NY 14853-3801<br>
607-255-4933<br>

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