Mass Customization and Footwear: Myth, Salvation or Reality is the only book dedicated to the application of mass customization in a particular industry. By showing examples of how a "mature" manufacturing sector like shoe making can be thoroughly renovated in business and mentality by applying this paradigm; Mass Customization and Footwear: Myth, Salvation or Reality will be bought by practitioners in the footwear sector and postgraduates, researchers and lecturers in the area of mass customization.

This book introduces all the relevant information required to understand and put Model Driven Architecture (MDA) into industrial practice. It clearly explains which conceptual primitives should be present in a system specification, how to use UML to properly represent this subset of basic conceptual constructs, how to identify just those diagrams and modeling constructs that are actually required to create a meaningful conceptual schema, and how to accomplish the transformation process between the problem space and the solution space. The approach is fully supported by commercially available tools.

No other book has been published giving a single-volume introduction and survey to production planning in distributed manufacturing networks. The published literature so far includes conference proceedings only.

As future generation information technology (FGIT) becomes specialized and fr- mented, it is easy to lose sight that many topics in FGIT have common threads and, because of this, advances in one discipline may be transmitted to others. Presentation of recent results obtained in different disciplines encourages this interchange for the advancement of FGIT as a whole. Of particular interest are hybrid solutions that c- bine ideas taken from multiple disciplines in order to achieve something more signi- cant than the sum of the individual parts. Through such hybrid philosophy, a new principle can be discovered, which has the propensity to propagate throughout mul- faceted disciplines. FGIT 2009 was the first mega-conference that attempted to follow the above idea of hybridization in FGIT in a form of multiple events related to particular disciplines of IT, conducted by separate scientific committees, but coordinated in order to expose the most important contributions. It included the following international conferences: Advanced Software Engineering and Its Applications (ASEA), Bio-Science and Bio-Technology (BSBT), Control and Automation (CA), Database Theory and Application (DTA), D- aster Recovery and Business Continuity (DRBC; published independently), Future G- eration Communication and Networking (FGCN) that was combined with Advanced Communication and Networking (ACN), Grid and Distributed Computing (GDC), M- timedia, Computer Graphics and Broadcasting (MulGraB), Security Technology (SecTech), Signal Processing, Image Processing and Pattern Recognition (SIP), and- and e-Service, Science and Technology (UNESST).

The concept of CAST as Computer Aided Systems Theory was introduced by F. Pichler in the late 1980s to refer to computer theoretical and practical developments as tools for solving problems in system science. It was thought of as the third component (the other two being CAD and CAM) required to complete the path from computer and systems sciences to practical developments in science and engineering. Franz Pichler, of the University of Linz, organized the first CAST workshop in April 1988, which demonstrated the acceptance of the concepts by the scientific and technical community. Next, the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria joined the University of Linz to organize the first international meeting on CAST (Las Palmas, February 1989) under the name EUROCAST'89. This proved to be a very successful gathering of systems theorists, computer scientists and engineers from most European countries, North America and Japan. It was agreed that EUROCAST international conferences would be organized every two years, alternating between Las Palmas de Gran Canaria and a continental European location. From 2001 the conference has been held exclusively in Las Palmas. Thus, successive EUROCAST meetings took place in Krems (1991), Las Palmas (1993), In- bruck (1995), Las Palmas (1997), Vienna (1999), Las Palmas (2001), Las Palmas (2003) Las Palmas (2005) and Las Palmas (2007), in addition to an extra-European CAST c- ference in Ottawa in 1994.

SystemC Kernel Extensions for Heterogeneous System Modeling is a result of an almost two year endeavour on our part to understand how SystemC can be made useful for system level modeling at higher levels of abstraction. Making it a truly heterogeneous modeling language and platform, for hardware/software co-design as well as complex embedded hardware designs has been our focus in the work reported in this book.

The application of Computational Intelligence in emerging research areas such as Granular Computing, Mechatronics, and Bioinformatics shows its usefulness often emphasized by Prof Lotfi Zadeh, the inventor of fuzzy logic and many others. This book contains recent advances in Computational Intelligence methods for modeling, optimization and prediction and covers a large number of applications. The book presents new Computational Intelligence theory and methods for modeling and prediction. The range of the various applications is captured with 5 chapters in image processing, 2 chapters in audio processing, 3 chapters in commerce and finance, 2 chapters in communication networks and 6 chapters containing other applications.

PAAMS, the International Conference on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems is an evolution of the International Workshop on Practical Applications of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems. PAAMS is an international yearly tribune to present, to discuss, and to disseminate the latest developments and the most important outcomes related to real-world applications. It provides a unique opportunity to bring multi-disciplinary experts, academics and practitioners together to exchange their experience in the development of Agents and Multi-Agent Systems.

This volume presents the papers that have been accepted for the 2009 edition. These articles capture the most innovative results and this year's trends: Assisted Cognition, E-Commerce, Grid Computing, Human Modelling, Information Systems, Knowledge Management, Agent-Based Simulation, Software Development, Transports, Trust and Security. Each paper has been reviewed by three different reviewers, from an international committee composed of 64 members from 20 different countries. From the 92 submissions received, 35 were selected for full presentation at the conference, and 26 were accepted as posters.

For the past decade or so, Computational Intelligence (CI) has been an - tremely "hot" topic amongst researchers working in the ?elds of biomedicine and bioinformatics. There are many successful applications of CI in such areas ascomputationalgenomics, predictionofgeneexpression, proteinstructure, and protein-protein interactions, modeling of evolution, or neuronal systems mod- ing and analysis. However, there still are many problems in biomedicine and bioinformatics that are in desperate need of advanced and e?cient compu- tional methodologies to deal with tremendous amounts of data so prevalent in those kinds of researchpursuits. Unfortunately, scientists in both these ?elds are very often unaware of the abundance of computational techniques that could be put to use to help them analyze and understand the data underlying their research inquiries. On the other hand, computational intelligence practitioners are often unfamiliar with the particular problems that their algorithms could be successfully applied for. The separation between the two worlds is partially caused by the use of di?erent languages in these two spheres of science, but also by a relatively small number of publications devoted solely to the purpose of facilitating the exchange of new computational algorithms and methodologies on one hand, and the needs of the realms of biomedicine and bioinformatics on the other. Inordertohelp?llthegapbetweenthescientistsonbothsidesofthisspectrum, wehavesolicitedcontributionsfromresearchersactivelyapplyingcomputational intelligencetechniquestoimportantproblemsinbiomedicineandbioinformatics. The purpose of this book is to provide an overview of powerful state-of-the-art methodologiesthatarecurrentlyutilizedforbiomedicine-and/orbioinformati- orientedapplications, sothatresearchersworkinginthose?eldscouldlearnofnew methodstohelpthemtackletheirproblems. Ontheotherhand, wealsohopethat the CI community will ?nd this book useful by discovering a new and intriguing area of applications.

IMPROVE stands for "Information Technology Support for Collaborative and Distributed Design Processes in Chemical Engineering" and is a large joint project of research institutions at RWTH Aachen University. This volume summarizes the results after 9 years of cooperative research work.

The focus of IMRPOVE is on understanding, formalizing, evaluating, and, consequently, improving design processes in chemical engineering. In particular, IMPROVE focuses on conceptual design and basic engineering, where the fundamental decisions concerning the design or redesign of a chemical plant are undertaken. Design processes are analyzed and evaluated in collaboration with industrial partners.

Alf Yarwood provides a practical, structured course of work matched to the latest release of AutoCAD. After introducing first principles and the creation of 2D technical drawings, he goes on to demonstrate the construction of 3D solid drawings, surface model drawings and rendering. All the new features of the 2010 software release are taken into account and the increasing emphasis on 3D solid modelling in the software is reflected in the book. The 2D chapters are also suitable for those learning how to use AutoCAD LT 2010.
Suitable for all new users of AutoCAD, this book is particularly applicable to vocational and introductory level undergraduate courses in engineering and construction. Further Education students in the UK will find this an ideal textbook to cater for the City & Guilds 4353 and 2303 qualifications and the relevant CAD units of BTEC National and BTEC Higher National Engineering and Construction schemes from Edexcel. Many Foundation Degrees also contain CAD modules for which this book can be of use.
Readers will also be able to visit a free companion website at http: //books.elsevier.com/companions/9781856178686, where they will find worked solutions and AutoCAD drawing files of stages and results for the exercises in the book, as well as further exercises and multiple-choice questions with answers.

Engineering Drawing with CAD Applications is ideal for any engineering student, needing a user-friendly step-by-step guide to draughting, sketching and drawing. Fully revised to take into account developments in computer aided drawing, and to keep up with British Standards, this guide remains an ideal introduction to the subject. It provides readers with the basic knowledge and skills of draughting and takes them on to more interesting and advanced engineering drawing techniques and procedures. This latest revision of Ostrowsky's popoular Engineering Drawing represents a comprehensive introductory course in engineering drawing and sketching, and is sutiable for a wide range of college and university engineering students. The author concentrates on the techniques fundamental to effective drawing, key knowledge that is needed wether the drawings are carried out by hand, or via a CAD package. Copious illustrations and a clear, step-by-step approach make this book ideal for distance learning and assignment-based study.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 5th International Symposium on Automated Technology for Verification and Analysis, ATVA 2007, held in Tokyo, Japan, October 22-25, 2007.

The 29 revised full papers presented together with 7 short papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 88 submissions. The papers address theoretical methods to achieve correct software or hardware systems, including both functional and non functional aspects; as well as applications of theory in engineering methods and particular domains and handling of practical problems occurring in tools.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the 4th International Conference on Cooperative Design, Visualization, and Engineering, CDVE 2007, held in Shanghai, China, September 16-20, 2007.

The papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions. The papers cover all current issues in cooperative design, visualization, and engineering, ranging from theoretical and methodological topics to various systems and frameworks to applications in a variety of fields.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Industrial Applications of Holonic and Multi-Agent Systems, HoloMAS 2007, held in Regensburg, Germany, September 3 - 5, 2007.

The 39 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 63 submissions. The papers are organized in topical sections on theoretical and methodological issues, algorithms and technologies, implementation and validation aspects, applications, and supply chain management.

The Second International Conference on Fuzzy Information and Engineering (ICFIE2007), built on the success of previous conferences, the ICIKE2002 (Dalian China), is a major symposium for scientists, engineers and practitioners in China as well as the world to present their latest results, ideas, developments and applications in all areas of fuzzy information and knowledge engineering. It aims to strengthen relations between industry research laboratories and universities, and to create a primary symposium for world scientists in fuzzy fields such as Fuzzy Information, Fuzzy Sets and Systems, Soft Computing, Fuzzy Engineering, Fuzzy Operation Research and Management, Artificial Intelligence, Rough Sets and Its Application, Application in Fuzzy Mathematics and Systems, etc.

Thanks to the growth of computational power and the development of new productiontechnologies, NURBS modeling has become the standard in many fields:Industrial Design, Architecture and, more recently, Engineering.Simplified Complexity is a method for learning NURBS modeling with Rhinoceros (R).Born as the synthesis of twenty years of professional experience and teaching,Simplified Complexity consists of a structured knowledge system allowing deepunderstanding of the software. With this method the user can take advantage of Rhinoceros (R) full modeling potential.The idea behind Simplified Complexity is that even if the software has a clear andintuitive interface, NURBS geometry remains quite complex. In order to become aprofessional user, it is necessary to start from basic geometry knowledge: this willallow to foresee and avoid complexity or, if this is not possible, at least reduce it andoptimize it.

Mastering and effective exploration of the web environment needs new ideas, adaptation of known methods as well as application of sophisticated and robust technical implementations. Among new research directions present in relation to Web applications, a remarkable place is occupied by intelligent methods defining the topic of soft computing. This edited book includes reports from the front of diverse fields of the Web: application of artificial intelligence, design, information retrieval and interpretation, user profiling, security, engineering, etc. The material has been presented at the 5th Atlantic Web Intelligence Conference a " AWICa (TM)2007 held in Fontainbleau (France) and organized by Esigetel, Technical University of Lodz, and Polish Academy of Sciences.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design, CSCWD 2006, held in Nanjing, China in May 2006.

The 76 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from about 600 submissions during two rounds of reviewing and improvement. They contain expanded versions of the papers presented at the conference and are organized in topical sections on CSCW techniques and methods, collaborative design, collaborative manufacturing and enterprise collaboration, design methods and tools, agents and multi-agent systems, Web services, semantic Web, and grid computing, knowledge management, security and privacy in CSCW systems, workflow management, and e-learning.

Computer aided design (CAD) emerged in the 1960s out of the growing acceptance of the use of the computer as a design tool for complex systems. As computers have become faster and less expensive while handling an increasing amount of information, their use in machine design has spread from large industrial needs to the small designer.

This book constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Automated Technology for Verification and Analysis, ATVA 2006, held in Beijing, China in October 2006.

The 35 revised full papers presented together with abstracts of three keynote papers were carefully reviewed and selected from 137 submissions.

Diffractive optical elements (DOEs) are becoming more and more widely used in a braod range of fields, including telecommunications, optical computing, consumer electronics, laser material processing and the biomedical sciences, to manipulate light through micro-optical systems. In order to get the most out of such DOEs, knowledge of the design process, fabrication, packaging in a particular system, and operation is required.

Digital Diffractive Optics discusses in detail the design and simulation of DOEs, before considering the main fabrication techniques. The increasingly important CAD/CAM tool requirements for the production of DOEs are covered, and a chapter is devoted to the crucial area of systematic fabrication error compensation. Finally, the integration and use of DOEs in a number of different systems, including various opto-electronic and opto-mechanical systems, are discussed.

Digital Diffractive Optics will be of great interest to all those involved in the fields of optical engineering and photonics. It presents a clear view of the whole process, from design to fabrication and application, without overstressing the, often complex, mathematics, and will thus be accessible to postgraduate students and those entering the field, as well as more experienced engineers and scientists.

This book constitutes the thoroughly refereed post-proceedings of the 9th International Conference on Computer Supported Cooperative Work in Design, CSCWD 2005, held in Coventry, UK, in May 2005.

The 65 revised full papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from numerous submissions during at least two rounds of reviewing and improvement. They contain expanded versions of the papers presented at the conference and are organized in topical sections on CSCW techniques and methods, Grids and Web services, agents and multi-agent systems, ontology and knowledge management, collaborative design and manufacturing, enterprise collaboration, workflows, and other related approaches and applications.

The design of complex artifacts and systems requires the cooperation of multidisciplinary design teams using multiple commercial and non-commercial engineering tools such as CAD tools, modeling, simulation and optimization software, engineering databases, and knowledge-based systems. Individuals or individual groups of multidisciplinary design teams usually work in parallel and separately with various engineering tools, which are located on different sites, often for quite a long time. At any moment, individual members may be working on different versions of a design or viewing the design from various perspectives, at different levels of detail. In order to meet these requirements, it is necessary to have effective and efficient collaborative design environments. These environments should not only automate individual tasks, in the manner of traditional computer-aided engineering tools, but also enable individual members to share information, collaborate and coordinate their activities within the context of a design project. CSCW (computer-supported cooperative work) in design is concerned with the development of such environments.

Building Information Modelling, BIM, stellt eine neue Arbeitsweise in der Kooperation, der Steuerung und dem Management von Bauprojekten dar. Multimodelle erhoehen die Qualitat des koordinierten Zusammenarbeitens durch die Vernetzung der Informationen um eine weitere Groessenordnung. Das Buch zeigt anhand von zwei realen Projekten, wie diese Methoden eingesetzt werden koennen und welche Werkzeuge hierzu noetig sind. Band 2 geht zunachst auf die Anwendung von BIM und Multimodellen in der Baustelleneinrichtungsplanung ein und zeigt auf, wie diese neue Arbeitsmethode neue Perspektiven auch fur die Montage- und Logistiksimulation bietet und wie aus den verlinkten Informationen mit wenigen Schritten Simulationsmodelle generiert werden koennen. Es wird aufgezeigt, wie die digitale Vernetzung von Geometriedaten, Bauelementen, Kosten, Zeit und Vorgangsdaten Zusammenhange erschliesst und neue Transparenz bei Ausschreibung, Kosten- und Terminkalkulation, Disposition und Projektfortschrittsuberwachung schafft. Risikomanagement, eine weitere Anwendung, bekommt eine ganz neue Perspektive. Die Erfassung, Klassifikation und Verfolgung von Risiken kann wesentlich genauer und detaillierter erfolgen. Die Transparenz wird durch die neuen Visualisierungsmoeglichkeiten erheblich gesteigert.