This collection of review articles presents an overview of the current state of the art in the field of Mechanical Design and provides the reader with an understanding of both the theory and applications of current work in process and product design. Reflecting the almost revolutionary developments in engineering design over the last decade, the contributions to this volume make use of insights from such fields as artificial intelligence, concurrent design, computer science, and psychology. The contributions span the full range of concern of mechanical design, from theory to applications, from processes and products to information flow, from representation of knowledge domains to general analogic reasoning, from single-concept design to life-cycle design and issues of quality.