Collaborative Engineering Laboratory (CiEL) has been established in the Institute of Electronics at the Silesian University of Technology in the frame of the EU E-Colleg project (FP5 IST-1999-11746) in order to cope with scientific and technological challenges that engineering has to face with new innovative technologies of distributed and collaborative work that become feasible with the information society. The new emerging paradigm of collaborative engineering (CE) that is commonly understood as an innovative method for product design and development that integrates widely distributed engineers for virtual collaboration, has a profound impact on many engineering disciplines, and especially on: nanoelectronics, software engineering, as well as mechanical and civil engineering. True interdisciplinary approach is needed in order to realise the mission of CiEL that is:
to research, develop and proliferate new technologies of distributed collaborative engineering with a special concern on:
- collaborative engineering environments: collaborative platforms enabling distributed tools and tasks integration, collaborative workspaces with synchronous and asynchronous communication, design workflow management
- investigation of benefits that collaborative networks bring to engineers
- new design methodologies that take advantage of new forms of distributed and collaborative engineering work.
Collaborative design of SoCs (System-on-Chips) in distributed engineering teams with the development of virtual electronic components (IP cores) are the main application domains where the new CE technologies are being deployed at CiEL in cooperation with IP vendors (Evatronix).
- maintaining the research and technical infrastructure that enables participation in European R&D projects, as well as supports realisation of R&D projects for industry
- development of advanced virtual (IP) components
- sharing of experience in the frame of relevant organisations and collaborative networks (AITPL Cluster, EUROMICRO, SOCOLNET)
- establishing contacts with leading engineering networks in electronic systems engineering and other virtual organisations that support engineers