In object-centered engineering, objects carry with them context and meaning as well as the ability to be modified by the user and should be able to change the way they are represented at run time by manipulating the information they contain. Most of all, an engineering object must have the ability to self-discover and adapt to other objects that may need to exchange information with that particular instance of the object. Information that is exchanged with other objects must be able to be managed internal to an engineering object without outside assistance from the user.

Engineering objects help manage complexity because they manage information in an object-oriented method in that information is grouped based on its physical counterpart. Within engineering objects, even if information is stored within disparate software packages, the user interface into the object is through a single engineering object interface. In addition, the user can decide at what level of immersion he or she wishes to interact with the engineering object.