This paper describes a new Initiative proposed by the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). The purpose of this Initiative is to develop a future design environment for engineering and science mission synthesis for use by NASA scientists and engineers. This new Initiative is called the Intelligent Synthesis Environment (ISE). The paper describes the mission of NASA, future aerospace system characteristics, the current engineering design process, the ISE concept, and concludes with possible ISE applications for Quantitative Non-Destructive Evaluation (QNDE).