A major challenge for companies is their ability to adapt to new methods in a timely manner. As to computer simulations the impact on design methodologies includes the following issues.

• Uprfont desing, including concept evaluation, uncertainities, black box studies, sensitivity studies, and more generally, design process automation and parametrisation, design space exploration, cross-disciplinary integration, decision support tools,...
  
• Integrated analysis, including data exchange and reuse, visualisation and virtual reality, model quality identification and model repair and healing, use of test data, and more generally, concurrent engineering approaches, distributed developments,...
  
• Web based engineering and related security techniques,...
  
• Knowledge Based Systems, including design rules, idealisation, interpretation of results, avoiding failures, manufacturing constraints,..
  

There are many emerging IT and simulation technologies which are fundamentally changing the design process and the development and testing of products. An overview of such technologies includes the following topics.

• Multi-objective collaborative design optimisation, including IT issues, design process automation and parametrisation, dealing with uncertainities, strategies for resources optimisation, virtual modelling, remote support,..
• Multiphysics, including coupled problems and unified approaches,..
  
• Reverse engineering, including design data capture and processing, choice of relevant parameters, alternative design strategies,..
  
• Knowledge Based Systems, including design rules, idealisation, interpretation of results, avoiding failures, manufacturing constraints,...
  
• Computational techniques, including visualisation techniques, virtual reality, parallel computing, PC clusters,...
  
• Web-based applications and developments, multimedia, web-based tools and methods.