Abstract: In a method for generating a product design, a description of i) a product to be designed, and/or ii) one or more design objectives are received and analyzed to determine a design function that corresponds to the description and characterizes the product. Combinations of sub-functions that match the determined design function are determined. A plurality of components that implement the design sub-functions are determined. One or more models that correspond to one or more candidate designs that implement the determined design function are constructed from sub-models corresponding to the determined plurality of components. The one or more models are evaluated with regard to one or more design objectives. A report is generated that provides i) information regarding performance of at least one candidate design with regard to the one or more design objectives, and/or ii) an indication that no candidate design meets the one or more design objectives, when appropriate.