SCOPE OF THE WORKSHOP
Emergent Synthesis is a new resarch direction in engineering science that was proposed and substantiated at the 1st Workshop on Emergent Synthesis held at Kobe University, 1998. The key questions of emergent synthesis are related to the design, manufacturing, utilization, and consumption of artifacts. In the new era we face an increasing complexity and uncertainty that arises from factors such as the diversification of culture, individualisation of lifestyle, globalisation of industrial activities, and a growing concern toward our natural environment. The increasing complexity and uncertainty bring about practical and theoretical difficulties in each domain of artifactual activities, from the planning phase up to post sales. Non-linear phenomena, incomplete data and knowledge, combinatorial explosion of states, dynamic changes in environment and bounded rationality are some notable examples of these difficulties. The central question is realising an artifactual system that achieves its purpose under unpredictable conditions. It is difficult to approach problems like this by using traditional engineering principles, such as analysis and determinism. Methodologies based on emergent synthesis are to be investigated. Emergent Synthesis as a transdisciplinary area has strong connections to the fields of artificial life, artificial intelligence, multi-agent systems, evolutionary and emergent computation, game theory, complex adaptive systems, co-creation, and self-organization.