Prior to the acceptance of computer aided engineering (CAE) software in the product development process (PDP), product development was characterized by a design-test-redesign-test cycle. This activity was time consuming and resource intensive. As CAE software tools have been integrated into the PDP, the PDP has been characterized by a design-simulate-redesign-test cycle. The addition of CAE tools to the PDP has reduced the time to market and resource consumption. Although the benefits of the integration of CAE software in the PDP process have been realized, there still exists an arbitrary relationship between the results from the CAE tools to engineering decisions regarding product design.