To address your idea specifically, I definitely think something like that is possible. If the formulas and data where separated such that one spreadsheet could inherit formulas from a master etc. There is so much variation in engineering though its just a matter of working it through and seeing where the limitations are.
In making things better in engineering the first goal is first try and stop people spending so much time managing and moving data around. This really takes up a large percentage of the work done, unnecessarily.
Second is to start getting engineers to see things more like programming where things aren't repeated and data is separated out from the method. If you receive new data (e.g. new aircraft loads and geometry) your goal is for there to be nothing whatsoever required for you to update your analysis. Its already setup, you just point at the new data and it's done. This is rarely the case I find.
Finally, I think is the issue you are talking about which is to tackle the problem of engineering by forming new abstractions and figuring out how to best represent those abstractions with existing tools or something new. This is definitely promising but honestly there's lots of easier stuff to do first that would make a big difference.
The thing that makes it so hard in engineering is that every job has its own set of "approved" methods and the amount of work required for each part varies for a number of reasons. There's a lot stuff you're never going to get the world to agree on but a spreadsheet type thing that separates the data and formulas completely is a good start.
In making things better in engineering the first goal is first try and stop people spending so much time managing and moving data around. This really takes up a large percentage of the work done, unnecessarily.
Second is to start getting engineers to see things more like programming where things aren't repeated and data is separated out from the method. If you receive new data (e.g. new aircraft loads and geometry) your goal is for there to be nothing whatsoever required for you to update your analysis. Its already setup, you just point at the new data and it's done. This is rarely the case I find.
Finally, I think is the issue you are talking about which is to tackle the problem of engineering by forming new abstractions and figuring out how to best represent those abstractions with existing tools or something new. This is definitely promising but honestly there's lots of easier stuff to do first that would make a big difference.
The thing that makes it so hard in engineering is that every job has its own set of "approved" methods and the amount of work required for each part varies for a number of reasons. There's a lot stuff you're never going to get the world to agree on but a spreadsheet type thing that separates the data and formulas completely is a good start.