The process of prot0!JPillg is part of every scientific inquiry, product design, and learning activity. The new economic realities require the rapid prototyping of manufactured artifacts and rapid solutions to problems with numerous interrelated elements. 'This, in turn, requires me fast, accueate simulation of physical processes and design optimization using knowledge and computational models from !l1J(llip/e dircipliJJu (mllllj-p~sj(S OIld om/Ii-Hale IDO&/J) in science and engineering. Thus, the realization of rapid multidisciplinary prototyping is the new grrl/ld cballmge. In iliis application scenario the natural computational resource is a "computational grid" rnat connects the needed distributed hardware and somv:ue resources used w simulate the elements of the artifact. Our research goal is to address this application scenario in Ult: conte.xt of parallel computing, cluster computing (LAN based computational grids), and Intranet/Internet compurational grids. In this document, wc describe the initial design of a generic MPSE framework based on a ne[Work of computational agents assuming a net-centric nm-rimc support environment. Moreover, we prcsent thc realization of this framework for designing a prototype MPSE (GasTurbnLab) for supporting simul:ltions needed for the design of efficient gas turbine engines.

BACKGROUND: Due to the growth of information in the urban rail environment, there is a need to better understand the ergonomics profile underpinning the visual behaviours in train drivers. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the tasks and activities of urban/metropolitan passenger train drivers in order to better understand the nature of the visual demands in their task activities. METHODS: Data were collected from 34 passenger train drivers in four different Australian states. The research approach used a novel participative ergonomics methodology that fused interviews and observations with generative tools. Data analysis was conducted thematically. RESULTS: Results suggested participants did not so much drive their trains, as manage the intensity of visually demanding work held in their environment. The density of this information and the opacity of the task, invoked an ergonomics profile more closely aligned with diagnostic and error detection than actual train regulation. CONCLUSIONS: The paper discusses the relative proportion of strategies corresponding with specific tasks, the visualperceptual load in substantive activities, and the requisite visual skills behoving navigation in the urban rail environment. These findings provide the basis for developing measures of complexity to further specify the visual demands in passenger train driving.

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