Alison McKay
Papers
2
Total Citations
13
H-Index
2
About
Alison McKay’s research lies at the intersection of design theory, product lifecycle management, and information modeling. Her work focuses on the challenge of sharing and reusing design definitions across different stages of a product’s life—from conception through manufacturing to end-of-life. A key contribution is her exploration of embedding multiple design structures into unified definitions, enabling more flexible and efficient design changes. In her most-cited paper, “Sharing design definitions across product life cycles” (2019, 9 citations), she demonstrated the feasibility of this approach using lattice theory and qualitative data analysis. Her earlier case study of a collision avoidance robot (2016, 4 citations) provided a practical framework for comparing techniques to manage design information and implement changes—transforming a robot from collision avoidance to object-following behavior. Though her citation counts are modest, McKay’s work is foundational for researchers and practitioners seeking to streamline design information flow in complex engineering systems. Her contributions are particularly relevant for those working in product lifecycle management, systems engineering, and design informatics.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
- 1Sharing design definitions across product life cycles9 citations · 2019
- 2Embedding multiple design structures into design definitions: A Case study of a collision avoidance robot4 citations · 2016