Information Models and Ontologies to Enable Digital Engineering: Research Workshop

Registration is invitation only.

Objective

The objective of this workshop is to first understand the current state of practice and research in the synthesis and application of information models and ontologies in support of Digital Engineering; and second, identify a small number of key research questions that need to be addressed. This is driven by the notion of achieving semantically rich design reasoning across abstraction levels and disciplinary domains. This invitation-only workshop will bring together key stakeholders and experts from government, industry, and academia to drive the discussion, propelled by targeted invited talks focused on promising approaches to design and implement ontologies; and existing bodies of knowledge to support the development of ontologies.

View Workshop Report

Topics of Interest

• Capabilities enabled by ontologies in the context of Digital Engineering
• Internal consistency in nomenclature, concepts, and practices across an extended enterprise, and a complex supply chain
• Tension between theoretical correctness and pragmatic implementation of ontologies and information models
• Barriers and enablers to develop and adopt ontologies
• Existing or proposed initial taxonomies in support of Digital Engineering

Notional Organization of the Research Workshop

Four invited talks to set the stage followed by three working groups and a concluding summarizing session at the end of the workshop.

Invited Talks

1. What Ontologies Can and Cannot Achieve in Digital Engineering – Sample Implementation of an Ontology to Achieve Data Interoperability
   Mr. Chris Partridge, Chief Ontologist, BORO Solutions, UK
2. Armaments Digital Engineering Strategy – An Ontology Based Approach
   Dr. Jason Cook and Dr. Eddie Grimes, U.S. Army Futures Command, Armaments Center
3. Experiences Using Formal Ontologies in Systems Engineering Practice
   Dr. Steve Jenkins, JPL/NASA (Retired)
4. A Digital Engineering Methodology for Interoperability Using Ontologies
   Dr. Mark Blackburn and Dr. Tom Hagedorn, Systems Engineering Research Center (SERC)

Working Groups

1. Ontology Development: Best practices to develop an ontology: what is needed, what is good enough, what are critical challenges?
2. Ontology Sources: What information/knowledge is best when developing ontologies; where can we find this knowledge, what are potential inconsistencies and/or likely conflicts, what are the existing harmonization?
3. Piloting Ontologies: What are the potential low impedance pilots to showcase the value of ontologies?

Outcomes

A consolidated report summarizing the results of the three working groups, including relationships between the different elements discussed and a proposed plan of action.

Contacts

Technical

• Dr. Mark Blackburn, SERC Research Council Member and Senior Research Scientist, Stevens Institute of Technology
• Dr. Val Sitterle, SERC Research Council Member; Principal Research Engineer and Chief Scientist, Systems Engineering Research Division, Georgia Tech Research Institute

For assistance with registration, contact:

• Dr. Yan Seetao, SERC/AIRC Project Manager