Composite decisions are decisions consisting of interconnected parts (subdecisions) and they correspond to a composite (composable, modular, decomposable) system. The material will be of interest to scientists (e.g., mathematicians, computer scientists, economists, social engineers,etc.). The book can be used as a text for courses (for example: systems engineering, system design, life cycle engineering, engineering design, combinatorial synthesis) at the level of undergraduate (a compressed version), graduate/PhD levels and for continuing education.

Decision making arises when we wish to select the best possible course of action from a set of alternatives. With advancements of the digital technologies, it is easy, and almost instantaneous, to gather a large volume of information and/or data pertaining to a problem that we want to solve. For instance, the world-wi- web is perhaps the primary source of information and/or data that we often turn to when we face a decision making problem. However, the information and/or data that we obtain from the real world often are complex, and comprise various kinds of noise. Besides, real-world information and/or data often are incomplete and ambiguous, owing to uncertainties of the environments. All these make decision making a challenging task. To cope with the challenges of decision making, - searchers have designed and developed a variety of decision support systems to provide assistance in human decision making processes. The main aim of this book is to provide a small collection of techniques stemmed from artificial intelligence, as well as other complementary methodo- gies, that are useful for the design and development of intelligent decision support systems. Application examples of how these intelligent decision support systems can be utilized to help tackle a variety of real-world problems in different - mains, e. g. business, management, manufacturing, transportation and food ind- tries, and biomedicine, are also presented. A total of twenty chapters, which can be broadly divided into two parts, i. e.

This book examines seven key combinatorial engineering frameworks (composite schemes consisting of algorithms and/or interactive procedures) for hierarchical modular (composite) systems. These frameworks are based on combinatorial optimization problems (e.g., knapsack problem, multiple choice problem, assignment problem, morphological clique problem), with the author’s version of morphological design approach – Hierarchical Morphological Multicritieria Design (HMMD) – providing a conceptual lens with which to elucidate the examples discussed. This approach is based on ordinal estimates of design alternatives for systems parts/components, however, the book also puts forward an original version of HMMD that is based on new interval multiset estimates for the design alternatives with special attention paid to the aggregation of modular solutions (system versions). The second part of ‘Modular System Design and Evaluation’ provides ten information technology case studies that enriches understanding of the design of system design, detection of system bottlenecks and system improvement, amongst others. The book is intended for researchers and scientists, students, and practitioners in many domains of information technology and engineering. The book is also designed to be used as a text for courses in system design, systems engineering and life cycle engineering at the level of undergraduate level, graduate/PhD levels, and for continuing education. The material and methods contained in this book were used over four years in Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology (State University) in the author’s faculty course “System Design”.

Durability of Composite Systems meets the challenge of defining these precepts and requirements, from first principles, to applications in a diverse selection of technical fields selected to form a corpus of concepts and methodologies that define the field of durability in composite material systems as a modern discipline. That discipline includes not only the classical rigor of mechanics, physics and chemistry, but also the critical elements of thermodynamics, data analytics, and statistical uncertainty quantification as well as other requirements of the modern subject. This book provides a comprehensive summary of the field, suited to both reference and instructional use. It will be essential reading for academic and industrial researchers, materials scientists and engineers and all those working in the design, analysis and manufacture of composite material systems. Makes essential direct and detailed connections to modern concepts and methodologies, such as machine learning, systems controls, sustainable and resilient systems, and additive manufacturing Provides a careful balance between theory and practice so that presentations of details of methodology and philosophy are always driven by a context of applications and examples Condenses selected information regarding the durability of composite materials in a wide spectrum of applications in the automotive, wind energy, civil engineering, medical devices, electrical systems, aerospace and nuclear fields

ISKE2009 is the fourth in a series of conferences on Intelligent Systems and Knowledge Engineering. The ISKE2009 proceedings covers state-of-the-art research and development in various areas of Intelligent Systems and Knowledge Engineering, particularly of Intelligent Decision Making Systems.

"Systems engineering is an interdisciplinary field of engineering and engineering management that focuses on how to design, integrate, and manage complex systems over their life cycles. At its core, systems engineering utilizes systems thinking principles to organize this body of knowledge."--