A topic near and dear to my roots: engineering calculations and how to make them most easily used by others.
It All Adds Up - Knowledge Management Research Center - CIO
Can you instill knowledge management concepts into the engineering field? MathSoft, the Cambridge, Mass.-based provider of the well-known engineering software called Mathcad, thinks you can and should, and it spreads that news with missionary fervor.
This issue is not limited to the types of formulae that end up in Mathcad. Engineers and scientists build models and simulations of anything they might be asked to build bridges, airplanes, engines, chemical reactions, distillation columns, oil refineries... The list can keep going to the very small and very large. Smart companies want to archive these models, not only so that the same people can review their work and tweak the models, but so that other people can save the hassle of starting from scratch.
The basic problem is the same as any other information repository: how do you store the models, in what format do they need to be, is it easy for people to submit new models? As mentioned in this article, Bechtel has a standard format for all their archived engineering calculations from Mathcad. Another technical option is AEA Technology's EASA for Enterprise Accessible Software Applications. EASA is a tool to package engineering models, modules and custom code for use by other experts and non-experts. It even allows people to run standalone code on remote machines, possibly freeing people from installing and learning massive applications on their local machine.
Another version of integrated engineering km is Aspen Technology's Zyqad (AEA Technology used to have something akin to this, but it may have been part of Aspen's purchase of the Hyprotech product line). Zyqad is designed for companies who are desiging complex facilities, such as chemical plants. It integrates across drawing, piping layout, equipment sizing and simulation programs -- all conveniently owned by Aspentech. It is an excellent tool for large design teams that are geographically distributed, as design decisions are kept up to date for all people who are accessing the designs and running calculations. The ultimate in change control.