THIS PAPER PRESENTS AN OVERVIEW OF SOME OF THE RESEARCH BEING CONDUCTED AT CARNEGIE MELLON UNIVERSITY (CMU) AND THE NATIONAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION'S ENGINEERING DESIGN RESEARCH CENTER (EDRC) AT CMU. THE CURRENT RESEARCH SPECIFICALLY ADDRESSES OBJECTS WITH CYLINDRICAL GEOMETRIES. THE RESULTS PRESENTED INCLUDE A BASIC CONFIDENCE LEVEL DETERMINATION THAT RELATES THE PROBABILITY OF PART ERROR DETECTION TO: NUMBER OF SAMPLES, CMM CAPABILITY, AND THE INSPECTED OBJECT'S GEOMETRIC CONFIGURATION. THIS RESULT IS CRITICAL IN THE EVOLVING QUALITY ASSURANCE ENVIRONMENTS OF TODAY'S MODERN PRODUCTION FACILITIES. THIS ANALYSIS IS ALSO AN EXCELLENT FOUNDATION FROM WHICH MORE COMPLEX GEOMETRIES MAY BE STUDIED.