Abstract: It is very important to implement multidisciplinary design optimization (MDO) method in the complex product design process because there is the problem which the whole optimization design of the complex product can’t be executed for the numerous disciplinary kinds and it’s high coupling . The state of the art and the concept of MDO are expatiated on, and then a summarization for the knowledge structure of MDO is shown with the theory including mathematic modeling, system decomposition, optimization framework, approximation model, sensitivity analysis, optimization method and the applications including software integration, data transformation, design data management, visualization, project management, parallel computation. The relation between the theoretical methods and the application technologies is indicated. Some future works are pointed out to be practiced in China including theoretical innovation, integration platform design, and MDO methodology spread.

Key words: Multidisciplinary design optimization, Optimization framework, Software integration, System decomposition