Simulation-supported Decision Making

The majority of engineering knowledge is learned from experience in testing and operations. However, learning from prototype testing and operational accidents/problems is both costly, time consuming, and risky. In the past, this has been an accepted cost of adopting new technologies, as it has been the only way we learn about what we do not know. The unanticipated and often non-intuitive results of new technologies are often realized in operations, and sometimes only after decades. This uncertainty is the result of combinations of factors or characteristics, all of which have natural ranges of variability. This variability and uncertainty has historically been taken into account through the use of safety factors, based on experience. This has led the engineering community to investigate various techniques to determine a realistic understanding of how the design will operate within the planned working environment. One of these techniques is commonly referred to as 'Stochastics', or more recently, 'Simulation-supported Decision Making' (SSDM).