Book excerpt: The second edition of a bestseller, this book discusses an integrated product and process design that has been successfully used to conceptualize, design, and rapidly product competitively-priced quality products. It examines the overlapping, interacting, and iterative nature of the engineering aspects that impact the product realization process. A detailed introduction to the creation of high quality products, the new edition explores the role of innovation, requirements engineering, smart materials, different rapid prototyping methods, and life-cycle cost determination, to name just a few. The book delineates proven methods that have been used successfully to create products.