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    J Intell Manuf (2011) 22:693–708

    DOI 10.1007/s10845-009-0329-z

    Automotive engineering curriculum development:case study for Clemson University

    Laine Mears   ·  Mohammed Omar   ·  Thomas R. Kurfess

    Received: 5 May 2008 / Accepted: 20 February 2009 / Published online: 22 October 2009

    © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009

    Abstract   The automotive manufacturing industry has

    transitionedin thepast 20 years from a central technicalfocusto an integrated and globally distributed supply chain. As car

    makers outsource not only a greater portion of their manufac-

    turing, but also their technical design responsibility, a more

    thorough understanding of both design and manufacturing

    changes’ effect on total vehicle and total production system

    performance and cost is critical. The distribution of tech-

    nical responsibility in automotive manufacturing has moti-

    vated the development of a specific curriculumin Automotive

    Engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA,

    with core focus on the interaction between systems, both

    in design and manufacturing. In this development, a detailed

    survey of automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers and

    major suppliers was carried out. The differences in perceived

    need between these organization types is explored, and the

    incorporation of these perceived needs to a new Automotive

    Engineering curriculum is presented.

    Keywords   Education   ·  Curriculum   ·  Manufacturing   ·

    Automotive  ·  OEM  ·  Supplier

    L. Mears  ·  M. Omar  ·  T. R. Kurfess (B)

    Clemson University-International Center for Automotive Research,

    343 Campbell Graduate Engineering Center, 4 Research Drive,Greenville, SC 29607, USA

    e-mail: [email protected]

    L. Mears

    e-mail: [email protected]

    M. Omar

    e-mail: [email protected]

    L. Mears  ·  M. Omar  ·  T. R. Kurfess

    Automotive Engineering Program,

    Clemson University–International Center for Automotive Research,

    Greenville, SC, USA

    Introduction

    The motor vehicle industry is the largest manufac-

    turing industry in the United States. No other single

    industry is linked so much to the US manufacturing

    sector or directly generates so much retail business

    and employment.   (Center for Automotive Research

    (Economics and Business Group) 2003)

    The automotive manufacturing industry has transitioned in

    the past 20 years from a centralized technical focus to an

    integrated and globally distributed supply chain. As car

    makers outsource not only a greater portion of their man-

    ufacturing, but also technical design responsibility, a more

    thorough understanding of both design and manufacturing

    changes’ effect on total vehicle and total production system

    performance and cost is critical. An understanding of   sys-

    tems integration, or focus on the interfaces between sys-

    tems, is essential for the future success of automotive

    manufacturing.

    The automotive sector specific to the United States is in

    transition as well. The market for automobiles produced by

    international manufacturers is increasing, as shown in Fig. 1

    (Automotive News 2008).

    International auto makers, employing a “build where they

    buy” philosophy bring to the manufacturing market new

    products, methods and cultures that must interface with local

    labor and suppliers. This cultural level of systems integration

    presents another dimension of understanding for the interface

    of systems.

    Additionally, consideration must be given to the geog-

    raphy of plant construction and regional trends of automo-

    tive manufacturing. In the 1990s, the total population of 

    Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennes-

    see, and Texas (the six southern automobile manufactur-

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    694 J Intell Manuf (2011) 22:693–708

    Fig. 1   North American sales of light vehicles by international firms

    with US production facilities. This sales trend continues to increase as

    more US plants are constructed by foreign firms. 2007–2009 data were

    forecast. (Automotive news)

    Fig. 2   Automobile manufacturing employment by region. Over

    5 years, southern employment increased by 26%, while Northern

    employment declined by 10% (Hill and Brahmst 2003). This trend con-

    tinues today

    ing states), increased by 7.5 million people or 19.7%, while

    that of the Northern automobile manufacturing states (Illi-

    nois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin)

    increased by only 3.6 million people or 7.7% (Hill and

    Brahmst 2003). In the period from 1998–2001, the number of 

    vehicle registrations in the South Atlantic states increased by

    2.7%, while the Northern states’ share of total registrations

    dropped by 3.4% (Hill and Brahmst 2003). Due to high cost

    of transporting vehicles regionally to sales markets, these

    figures translate directly to an increase in automotive manu-

    facturing employment in the South.Figure 2 shows a regional

    increase in thenumber of manufacturing employeesin South-

    ern states.

    Today we see a need for educating tomorrow’s automo-

    tive engineers through an industry with such profound effect

    on the global economy. The increasing need for understand-

    ing systems integration, the widening of the culture within

    the automotive industry, and the regional trend of increased

    automotive manufacturing in the South has motivated the

    development of a new Automotive Engineering curriculum

    at Clemson University.

    In the following sections, we present a motivation for

    the study of Automotive Engineering as a systems integra-

    tion practice by studying the need for quality improvement

    and current trends of availability and use of information in

    furthering flexibility and reconfigurability in manufacturing

    enterprise. A case study is presented of development of a new

    graduate program curriculum built on the concept of systems

    integration, with input from industrial original equipmentmanufacturers and suppliers. Engineering design tools are

    applied to develop a technical, business and cultural frame-

    work of a curriculum to educate the next generation of auto-

    motive industry leaders.

    Recent manufacturing developments in the automotive

    industry

    Intelligent quality improvement

    One platform upon which to consider study of the conceptof systems integration is in the analysis of quality uniformity

    across different suppliers to the automotive OEM, and appli-

    cation of intelligent manufacturing systems to ensure this

    quality consistency. Vosniakos et al. (2005) apply intelligent

    logic programming for process planning in the automotive

    domain of progressive-die sheet metal forming. The system

    generates andmakesuse of stored knowledge to check manu-

    facturability, plan the phases of the process, and to verify

    tooling designs; process validation output is shown in Fig. 3.

    This approach is part of a new technological direc-

    tion in manufacturing to incorporate design considerations

    directly and automatically in the process. Another applica-

    tion of information use in providing quality uniformity is

    Balic’s intelligent programming of computer numerical con-

    trol (CNC) turning (Balic et al. 2006). The system augments

    part computer-aided design (CAD) data with a genetic algo-

    rithm tool selection and cycle planning routine. This is an

    Fig. 3   Progressive sheet stamping process using intelligent program-

    ming. The intelligent system with no prior process knowledge output

    essentially the same process that had been developed through years of 

    experience

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    J Intell Manuf (2011) 22:693–708 695

    Fig. 4   Communication architecture for manufacturing health. Legacy

    systems such as programmable logic controllers (PLCs), CNCs and

    robotics are interfaced across a common object linking and embed-

    ding for process control (OPC) network which may utilize Microsoft

    message queuing (MSMQ). Such a structure enables interoperability

    of systems with different data formats. Data are managed through a

    Structured Query Language (SQL) database, and analysis applications

    interface through reporting services

    evolution of earlier work in expert system development using

    GA (Balic and Abersek 1997). Intelligent process planning

    is also addressed by Wang through the integrated intelligent

    process planning system (IIPPS) (Wang 1998). Results of 

    such work are applicable across the supply base in a flexible

    manufacturing framework, insuring better quality supplier to

    supplier as designs evolve and market demands change.

    An intelligent approach to quality uniformity in the area

    of materials is given by Brezocnik et al. (2002). They sim-

    ilarly use genetic programming to derive the flow stress of 

    steel in bulk forming. Based on experimental data, a model of 

    forming efficiency evolves, yielding accurate material prop-

    erties that can be fed back to the process for improved quality

    consistency.

    Tolerance is another area to address when dealing with

    quality uniformity.   Berruet et al.   (1999) address tolerance

    evaluation for flexible manufacturing systems (FMS). This

    work evaluates the potential for failure in FMSs, and pre-

    scribes the addition of flexible elements to the system in areas

    of failure sensitivity. This approach not only addresses qual-

    ity consistency, but also supply chain reliability.

    Rokach and Maimon (2006) present a new data mining

    algorithm for discovering patterns in complex manufactur-ing processes. Traditional data mining techniques are more

    difficult to apply to manufacturing data due to unbalance dis-

    tribution of the target value and small training sets. The new

    algorithm is applied to manufacturing quality improvement,

    and can be used as an enabling tool to improve quality con-

    sistency across suppliers for both  α  (producer) and  β   (con-

    sumer) risks. Te-Sheng et al. (2006) also address data mining

    for assessment of manufacturing yield rate for a semicon-

    ductor operation. This approach is warranted due to process

    complexity and interaction between operations.

    A fuzzy selection algorithm for quality-based invest-

    ments by suppliers is presented by   Gungor and ArIkan

    (2007) in order to obtain the highest quality value. Fuzzy set

    theory is used to select investments from engineering, mar-

    keting, supply quality, quality certification, inspection, tech-

    nology and training. Such a system supports consideration of 

    poorly-defined or linguistic considerations when selecting a

    quality investment. In all of these cases, a broader under-

    standing of systemic interaction effects is warranted.

    Digital technology in the manufacturing enterprise

    The ease of information generation and its use in the man-

    ufacturing process has been enabled by advances in digital

    technology.  Filos and Banahan  (2001) review digital tech-

    nology development in research and technological develop-

    ment organizations, and the importance of properly using

    these technologies to leverage the interlinked relationships

    of information and knowledge to both research and econ-

    omy. The “unforeseen opportunities” that access to this infor-

    mation stream allow support intelligent manufacturing in

    the form of interoperability standards between suppliers and

    automotive OEMs. These include both open internet stan-dards for new information generation as well as middleware

    standards to interface legacy systems.

    Digital technologies applied to workflow management in

    manufacturing are also becoming better formalized. Supply

    chain logistics and factory-level monitoring systems are able

    not only to report workflow data, but also to diagnose defi-

    ciencies and monitor overall manufacturing system health.

    Architectures such as the factory throughput analysis system

    in Fig. 4 are enabled by advancesin information management

    technology.

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    696 J Intell Manuf (2011) 22:693–708

    Fig. 5   Activity and data flow in manufacturing. Design, process plan

    and production activities can benefit from a neutral data model ( Feng

    2003)

    Cenesiz and Esin (2004) treat protocol analysis for net-

    working intelligent devices within the manufacturing sys-

    tem via controller area network (CAN) bus. This bus

    system, originally developed by Robert Bosch Corpora-

    tion for automotive in-vehicle communication is shown to

    be useful as a highly-reliable and low-cost alternative in

    factory communication systems, and is amenable to network-

    ing multiple real-time systems.

    The National Institute of Standards and Technology

    (NIST, US Dept. of Commerce) has been deeply involved

    with standardization of communication methods and proto-

    cols among software, design, manufacturing and production

    planning systems. Feng (2003) highlights the criticality of 

    the data incompatibility problem as design and manufactur-

    ing systems become more global and more highly vertically-

    integrated. A process planning activity model is developed

    to create a framework context to identify deficiencies in data

    flow and requirements at different process levels; high-level

    relationships are represented in Fig. 5.

    The process planning activity model is exemplified on

    data flow for a CNC machining process. Such a standard

    also promotes interoperability of supplier software systems

    and leadsto improved quality consistency. López-Ortega also

    addresses machining-specific common language using STan-

    dard for Exchange of Product data (STEP) data standard

    implemented in Java classes   (Lopez-Ortega and Ramirez

    2005). This standard allows process planning in the context

    of resource sharing in flexible systems. Typical resources to

    be managed in an automated flexible system are given in

    Table 1.

    Process planning systems are also treated by   Hsieh

    and Wu   (2000) in analysis of error sensitivity in classical

    computer-integrated deterministic production planning mod-

    els. Information always contains uncertainty, and this effect

    can be directly accounted for in planning if it is accessible.Treatment using probabilistic methods in a production exam-

    ple shows improved planning performance.

    Intelligent support of manufacturing flexibility

    A further development supported by digital technology

    enablers is flexibility in manufacturing. The flexible man-

    ufacturing system (FMS) offers benefits over traditional pro-

    cesses by their capability to respond to changing market,

    volume and demand conditions with minimal quality, cost

    and delivery (QCD) impact.  Mehrabi et al.   (2002) offer a

    comprehensive review of trends and outlooks for this devel-

    oping area of manufacturing systems. Over 60% of man-

    ufacturing experts in this study claim that the FMS is not

    living up to expectations; a primary opinion is that training,

    software and communications are areas for improvement for

    FMSs and for the new generation of reconfigurable manu-

    facturing system (RMS). An aim of the Clemson AEP is to

    develop technical skill and expertise in the area of flexible

    systems.

    Wang and Deng address the FMS as a system of machin-

    ing centers with material handling and automatic storage

    incorporating real-time decision making under a formal

    architecture (Jiacun andYi 1999). Such an architecture offers

    scalability in FMS design. Rahimifard and Newman (1999)

    note the evolution of information systems in manufacturing

    and their role in enabling flexibility.

    Hauser and De Weck   (2007) argue that demand fluctu-

    ations and component specification changes have exposed

    the need for embedding more flexibility in manufacturing

    systems and processes. This is greatly prevalent in the

    Table 1   Automated resources of a FMS

    Flexible manufacturing resource Acronym Description

    Automated guided vehicle AGV Battery-powered, automatically-steered vehicles that follow defined

    pathways in the floor. They are used to move unit loads between load

    and unload stations

    Automatic storage and retrieval system ASRS A storage system that performs storage and retrieval operations with

    speed and accuracy under a defined degree of automation

    Computer numerical control CNC Numerical control machine tools whose operation is based on a

    dedicated computer.

    Robot none General-purpose, programmable machine possessing certain

    anthropomorphic characteristics, the most obvious of them is the

    mechanical arm

    Resources are effectively allocated when production plans are made on a common data system such as STEP  (Lopez-Ortega and Ramirez 2005)

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    Fig. 6   Manufacturing flexibility space. Processes are compared for

    flexibility on scales of changeover time, productivity and variable vs.

    fixed costs (Hauser and De Weck 2007)

    automotive manufacturing industry, where the market is

    characterized by fragmentation, volatility and product plat-

    forming. A qualitative comparison of representative manu-facturing processes is given in Fig. 6.

    Such comparison can be quantitatively used for process

    selection and identification of areas for new process devel-

    opment.

    Human factors in manufacturing development

    Ultimately, the described areas of manufacturing develop-

    ment are driven in the automotive industry by the coupled

    evolution of digital technology advancement (knowledge

    availability), flexible manufacturing, and increased global

    competition. Zargari et al.(1999) completed a detailed survey

    of Society of Manufacturing Engineers College Fellows and

    awardees to ascertain the collective expert opinion regard-

    ing current state of US Manufacturing curricula. The first

    point noted by the study is that manufacturing expertise and

    domestic manufacturing capability are vital to the economic

    stability of the United States. The pool of qualified manu-

    facturing employees as a whole is decreasing due to both

    reduced involvement in Manufacturing Engineering (slow-

    ing of the “runner” in the competitive race) and increasing

    complexity of technological systems (receding finish line).

    Almost 90% of responding Outstanding Young Engineer a-

    wardees believe that there is a lack of competency because of 

    the distance between education and real world applications

    (Zargari et al. 1999). The expert consensus was that engi-

    neering graduates need not only a technical background, but

    also have the ability to communicate clearly and positively,

    and to manage complex interrelated systems.

    This recognized need motivates the education of a new

    class of   integration engineer , familiar with intersystem

    effects among design, manufacturing and market, as well as

    the effective use of knowledge in automotive development.

    Automotive engineering program at Clemson University

    The Automotive Engineering Program (AEP) at Clemson

    University is a graduate-level engineering program founded

    on the needs of the automotive industry. The master of sci-

    ence (MS) program responds to the professional needs of 

    the industry, while doctoral research programs contribute to

    the economic future of the industry in the state, nation andworld through advancements in automotive and manufac-

    turing technology. Primary goals of the AEP are to develop

    students’ communication, leadership, project management,

    business and critical-thinking skills, ethical judgment, global

    awareness, and scientific and technological knowledge as it

    relates to the automotive sector.

    The guiding visionof the AEP isto bethePremierresearch

    and education program for automotive engineering and mo-

    torsports. This vision is supported through a dedicated satel-

    lite campus known as the Clemson University-International

    Center for Automotive Research, a 330-acre research park 

    housing automotive industry research centers and the homeof the AEP, the Campbell Graduate Engineering Center

    (CGEC, see Fig. 7).

    To achieve and support this vision, the program will

    adhere to the primary theme   Interdisciplinary research

    and education focused on complex systems integration

    using the automobile and its manufacturing environment 

    as a platform. The theme is characterized by the following

    principles:

    •   Interdisciplinary Character,

      Industry Involvement,•   International Orientation / Participation,

    •   Student development / accomplishment mentorship,

    •   Delivering exceptional value to sponsors,

    •   Responsibility and contributions to society,

    •   Supporting economic development in South Carolina,

    and

    •   Contributing to Clemson’s vision and goals.

    The program is developed in order to address the afore-

    mentioned needs, particularly the understanding of the

    relationships between design, manufacturing and quality,

    ability to leverage process intelligence with process inter-operability, and establishing the fundamental framework for

    the automotive engineer to think and design at the systems

    level.

    Critical factors

    The interaction studies for the needs of the automotive indus-

    try resulted in a number of key critical factors lacking in the

    automotive engineer. These were taken from both OEM and

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    698 J Intell Manuf (2011) 22:693–708

    Fig. 7   Campbell graduate engineering center (Clemson University). The automotive engineering program is housed in this 90,000 ft2 research and

    education center

    Supplier interviews, and the results differed greatly in terms

    of technical versus organizational competence.

    Critical factors: original equipment manufacturers

    The major classes and subjective areas highlighted by OEMs

    are given in Table 2. These areas are representative of auto-

    motive-specific subjects perceived by the OEMs to be lacking

    in graduates from traditional engineering programs.

    These subjects encompass not only technical knowledge

    and ability, but also proper use of these technical tools given

    production volumes, market conditions and maturity of tech-

    nology. Integration of technologies and systems is a key

    theme.

    Critical factors: major automotive suppliers

    The suppliers perceived a much greater need in the area of 

    organizational “soft skills” for interacting with OEMs and

    providing smooth service within the supply chain. In this

    context, the term “soft skills” represents interpersonal, crea-

    tive and positive non-technical abilities, not to be confused

    with soft computing in intelligent systems. Supplier per-

    ceived needs are presented in Table 3.

    These perceived needs are highly organizational and man-

    agement-oriented with virtually no technical content. Based

    on the major topical areas, an implicit need for integra-

    tion capability is shown, but never explicitly voiced by the

    suppliers.

    Critical factors: comments on disparity between OEM and 

    supplier perceived need 

    It is interesting to notice that “Supplier Integration” is only

    a single item in the OEM educational strategy, though sup-

    plier issues represent a significant portion of OEM effort

    and cost. The OEM main focus is on technical integration

    of vehicle architecture, electronics, software, simulation and

    production systems.

    Alternatively, the Supplier needs approach is highly

    organizational and management-oriented. These types of skills are not typically core to an engineering curriculum,

    and the effect in the supplier workplace is demonstrated.

    Interestingly virtually no technical needs are given, even

    as the current market trend of vehicle development and

    manufacture is putting a higher technological burden on the

    supplier.

    The different perceived needs of OEM and supplier have

    driven the development of a holistic Curriculum incorpo-

    rating hands-on practical experience, research, and a set of 

    courses that address integration of technical and organiza-

    tional needs for producing the next-generation  Integration

     Engineer   to serve the Automotive industry. This engineerwill be an individual capable of specializing in a few key

    areas, but with the understanding of the effects that his deci-

    sions have on the system as a whole from the standpoints

    of functional performance, environmental robustness, total

    system cost, business strategy, and marketability.

     Incorporation of intelligent methods to satisfy

     perceived needs

    In the Clemson AEP, needs in particular areas are addressed

    with an emphasis on intelligent methods, specifically product

    development planning/realization and manufacturing sys-

    tems education. In product design and planning, systems-

    level needs identified by the OEM are addressed using digital

    manufacturing tools such as and ergonomic analysis. These

    tools give a modeled view approximating reality without the

    cost of prototype development and testing. This digital anal-

    ysis is incorporated to the product development and launch

    aspects of the curriculum.

    Similarly, intelligent approaches are included in instruc-

    tion and practical projects in the manufacturing area to

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    Table 3   Automotive Supplier

    Perceived Education Need

    Areas. The supplier interests are

    shown by organizational

    category

    Communication Multi-cultural issues

    Report writing—presentations well integrated Multi-cultural management

    Teaching how to communicate through people How product is used across cultures

    Communication through layers of management Collaboration tools—work together

    Communicate orders and why they were given   Policies

    How to present and sell Liability issues—Risk assessment

    Future modes of communication Social issues related to the vehicleEffective modes of communication Economics of public choice

    Communication—transmitting and receiving Policy—trade, regulation, environment

    Effectively communicating Navigating policy and financial issues

    Communication as a means for cultural diversity   Business

    Use of technology in communication Negotiation

    How to create an environment such that

    communication can occur effectively

    Who is the customer? internal vs. external

    customers

    Writing skills: technical and creative Thinking out of the box—whole picture

    Assertiveness (when to speak—how to be heard) Look beyond the car—but at total impact

    Ability to define customer needs clearly Look at it as a business

     Leadership   Design and mfg. effects on society

    Leadership/team skills Honor code, ethics

    Listening skills   Problem solving

    Cultural aspects/differences Balance the how and why issues

    Internal marketing Sustainable development

    Interpersonal dynamics Creativity

    Presenting ideas in a non-confrontational manner Solution is only one step—must keep going

    Money is the best motivator How to think and how to learn

    Negotiation skills Problem solving methodology

    Leadership roles Integration tools

    Pre-selling, internal marketing Systems view

    Project management    Critical thinking skills

    Project management (keeping on schedule) Life cycle issuesInnovation and entrepreneurship Diversity in problem solving

    Innovation is a value proposition Quality tools such as six sigma

    Concepts related to innovation Design to cost/value

    How to think about innovation Rapid design/rapid experimentation

    Value of innovation Ability to function in uncertain conditions

    address needs identified by both OEM and suppliers such

    as flexible and reconfigurable manufacturing system design,

    use of product and process information in inspection design,

    and system robustness to uncertain conditions. Additionally,

    digital representations of manufacturing processes are used

    for process planning, force and power analysis, and develop-

    ment of interactive cost models.

    Application of design tools to curriculum development:

    background and current state

    A new curriculum must be approached systematically if it is

    to be successful.  Miller  (1998) highlighted the problem of 

    lack of “real-world” preparation of new engineering gradu-

    ates going to industry, and points to a number of factors con-

    tributing to the disparity. Curricula have traditionally been

    slow to respond to industry needs, and have not kept pace

    instructionally with technological advances, particularly in

    manufacturing programs. Of primary importance in incor-

    porating industrial internships in the field of study to provide

    practical knowledge and understanding not attainable in the

    classroom. Additionally, Miller notes a lack of instruction in

    necessary “soft skills” necessary for functioning in an indus-

    trial environment, but not typically taught in traditional pro-

    grams. Primarily noted:

    •   opportunities for students to interact on teams,

    •   explicit instruction on communication skills,

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    Table 2   Automotive OEM perceived education need areas

    Vehicle development: process and integration tools and methods

    Vehicle architecture

    Development process and tools

    Vehicle testing

    Problem solving methods and tools

    Quality methodsCost structures

     Manufacturing: process, tools and development: focus on OEM 

    manufacturing

    Supplier integration

    Flexibility in manufacturing

    Quality methods in manufacturing

     Launch: preparation, management, project cost justification

    Manufacturing technology integration

    Management of cross-functional teams, synchronicity

    disciplines+schedules

    Financial evaluation of manufacturing+development projects and total

    vehicle business cases

     Electronics: from integration into vehicle to service and MMI 

    System integration for electronics

    Board-net, test diagnosis and analysis in development+manufacturing+

    service

    Electronics component manufacturing

    Communication electronics, MMI (incl. ergonomics of vehicle

    operation)…

    Software design and logistics

    Quality in software development

    Development of controls

    Subsystems: from functions to component, materials+manufacturing

     processes: prepares mainly to work for a parts supplier 

    Parts design and manufacturing (Why use castings?)

    Subsystems/ components materials (basic and advanced)

    Manufacturing processes depending on the volume

    Combustion+fundamentals of power trains+power integration

    Alternative energy

    Vehicle market concepts technology concept evaluation

    Vehicle+market customer behavior

    Vehicle business cases

    Vehicle dynamics simulations

    Body and suspension simulations

    Aerodynamics simulations

    The automotive interests are organized roughly by developmental stageof the vehicle

    •   explicit teaching of process skills such as creative prob-

    lem solving and project management,

    •   application of skills to engineering problems,

    •   better understanding of interaction effects in both com-

    plex products and organizations (seeing the big picture),

    and

    •   ability to question current practices.

    Table 4   Areas of engineering curriculum importance (Shea and West)

    Rating (/ 5.00)

    Topical areas

    Engineering economics 4.13

    Quality management 4.04

    Design process 4.03

    Statistics 4.03

    Planning and control 3.99

    Critical attributes

    Communication skills 4.60

    Problem solving skills 4.45

    People skill 4.45

    Commitment to objective 4.13

    Continuous improvement 4.12

    High ethical standard 3.83

    IME topics 3.72

    Business operations 3.64

    Design skills 3.38Engineering fundamentals 2.92

    A methodology for curriculum development using design

    tools was proposed by  Shea and West (1996), who applied

    multi-objective programming to satisfy educational objec-

    tives while meeting the university, college, accreditation

    and course sequence constraints of the engineering curric-

    ulum. They developed a multi-objective model, then iden-

    tified five of nineteen topical areas and ten critical attri-

    butes decided as important for graduates. These are shown

    in Table 4.Note that “soft” skills not traditionally taught explicitly

    in engineering are most highly rated. Shea used a simpli-

    fied weighting scheme to develop test curricula emphasizing

    different areas.

    Shih (1994) identifiedglobal competition, increasing tech-

    nology and the need for agility as motivators for improving

    the manufacturing engineering curriculum. This led to his

    development of the integrated manufacturing systems engi-

    neering (IMSE)   discipline, where some program focus is

    given to tools and techniques for managing integrated sys-

    tems, namely:

    •   Computer-Integrated Manufacturing (CIM),

    •   Concurrent Engineering (CE),

    •   Total Quality Management (TQM), and

    •   Reengineering.

    These tools have been integrated to the instructional curricu-

    lum at Clemson University, and were also used themselves to

    take a scientific approach in development of the curriculum

    itself. Though the described tools are outmoded today, the

    methodology can still be successfully applied.

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    Thom et al. (2002) also apply design tools such as weigh-

    ted objectives, Quality Function Deployment, and func-

    tional decomposition directly to curriculum development at

    Purdue University. They cite the benefits as being able to

    improve complex and coupled organizational systems such

    as curricula using a structured methodology. The curricu-

    lum is treated as analogous to a complex manufactured prod-

    uct. This approach overcomes a number of challenges fortraditional curriculum reviews, namely implementation of a

    systematic approach and having a quantitative measure of 

    curriculum success.

    Previously at Clemson University,  Beasley et al.  (1995)

    created and applied a design optimization approach for

    undergraduate scientific curriculum development. Such a

    curriculum requires optimization of course offerings subject

    to external constraints such as ABET requirements, bud-

    gets, facilities available, faculty time and industrial advi-

    sory board recommendations. A curriculum was developed

    first by identifying key organizational elements across the

    4-year window, then through iterative identification andtopical coverage development for individual courses. This

    approach was expanded to include quality-related continu-

    ous improvement concepts applied to develop a systematic

    framework for assessing and improving existing engineering

    curricula (Beasley et al. 1996). These techniques continue

    to be used in Clemson University Mechanical Engineering

    today, and will be applied in periodic reviews of the Auto-

    motive Engineering curriculum.

    More recently, Lerman (2008) has pointed to the need for

    critical analysis of targeted skills in education programs. He

    points out that programs which continue to assume a needed

    skill set based on data of decades ago cannot compete in

    today’s competitive business environment where foci such as

    agility and flexibility have replaced traditional success val-

    ues. The conclusion is that skills required for a given market

    must be actively studied with the industry of that market to

    provide an occupation-focused education plan.

    Borthwick et al. (2000) undertooka study in theAustralian

    automotive service industry to identify skill shortcomings to

    be addressedthrough education programs.The data were col-

    lected through focus groups with industry representatives to

    the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI),

    the Australian Industry Group (AIG) and the Business Coun-

    cil of Australia (BCA). They also examined the impact of 

    training through hands-on apprenticeship and higher educa-

    tion class work on the resultant skill set.

    Emadi and Jacobius (2004) givea detailed review of a cur-

    riculum development for automotive electric power drives at

    the Illinois Institute of Technology. This undergraduate pro-

    gram places teams of students in the role of design teams

    for electric power integration to vehicles. This need of iden-

    tifying and practicing issues with integration of new sys-

    tems to existing platforms was also cited as a critical need in

    our curriculum development study. Education development

    for adapting and maintaining electrical systems to conven-

    tional vehicles was also addressed by Oklahoma’s Mid-Del

    Technology Center (Lee and Stephens 2004). Curriculum

    developers formed partnerships with businesses and Depart-

    ment of Defense facilities for input on areas of education for

    electric vehicles. Additionally, partnerships resulted in dona-

    tions of Toyota Prius, Honda Insight and GM EV-1 vehiclesto be used as practical study subjects.

    McGrath (2007) highlights the important role of global-

    ization in motivating higher-skill-set curricula, particularly

    for the automotive industry. He uses the case of automotive

    globalization and resultant commercial proliferation within

    South Africa as a prime motivator for improved higher

    education curriculum development in partnership with this

    important industry.   Van Der Linde  (2000) also addresses

    the relationship of education and employee marketability in

    South Africa, stressing the need for education programs to

    be sensitive to changes in national industry, and to adjust

    curricula as needed to continue providing viable employees.Much as the automotive industry competes in an arena of 

    agility today, so must education programs be actively seek-

    ing information and reinventing their programs in response

    to change.

    Guerra-Zubiaga et al. (2008) highlight the importance of 

    collaborative learning methods (i.e., integration of education

    with industrial or practical influences) to improve engineer-

    ing education. The case study undertaken is that of collab-

    orative design tools such as those in the product lifecycle

    management (PLM) class of tools emerging as a necessary

    approach for managing automotive developmental informa-

    tion. They specifically point out deficiencies of programs

    that do not elicit feedback from the end customer (automo-

    tive industry), specifically:

    •   Inability to generalize new knowledge from previously

    known concepts;

    •   Inability to recognizevariations of previouslyknown con-

    cepts, when taken out of the context in which they were

    learnt;

    •   Inability to apply known methodologies to ‘open-end’

    problems, i.e., when the specific question to be answered

    is unfocused. These problems arise frequently in engi-

    neering design;•   The available channels for receiving information are

    almost restricted to audio-visual, associated to short-term

    memory and poor insight;

    •   Essential life-enduring skills such as creativeness,

    reflexiveness, abstractiveness, etc., remain undeveloped

    (Guerra-Zubiaga et al. 2008).

    The conclusion of this review is that application of tradi-

    tional learning environments (i.e., classroom and textbook)

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    Fig. 8   QFD for deployment of OEM capability requirements to automotive engineering curriculum. The first two categories of capability study

    are shown; 8×× designation represents the catalog course numbers

    do not address the specific needs of open problem require-

    ments development, integration of complex systems, and

    the creativity required to address these problems. These

    newly-defined required skills have been taken to heart in the

    design of the Clemson University Automotive Engineering

    program. The AEP was originated through extensive interac-

    tive workshops with automotive industry OEM and supplier

    partners beginning in late 2003. The primary activities were

    undertaken to answer the question “what is lacking in the

    engineers you hire from traditional Mechanical Engineering

    and Electrical Engineering programs?”

     Application of design tools to curriculum development:

    Clemson University

    For the Clemson University graduate Automotive Engineer-

    ingProgram, a numberof program requirement ideation tools

    and metrics were used, including decision matrices, affinity

    diagrams, and most notably the Quality Function Deploy-

    ment matrix (Kogure and Akao 1983). This tool correlates

    end user (automotive OEMs and suppliers) requirements

    with specific program features (classes, education tracks and

    research areas).

    To develop the QFD for the Automotive Engineering pro-

    gram, a series of interviews over the period 2000–2002 were

    conducted to elucidate the perceived requirements of grad-

    uates for industry. The interviews were undertaken with a

    major Original Equipment Manufacturer, BMW AG, as well

    as Tier-1 and Tier-2 suppliers, most notably Michelin North

    America and The Timken Company. Results of these inter-

    views were grouped by capability class and used to drive

    program development. An example of the QFD tool used for

    program evaluation is shown in Fig. 8.

    As shown by this table, the capability requirements identi-

    fied through OEM interview and focus groups are addressed

    by differentcourses.The tool is used to verify that allrequired

    capabilities are addressed in the curriculum (all rows should

    have one or more entries), and that no extraneous offerings

    are included (no columns should be blank or sparse). An

    equivalent activity was undertaken for the input offered from

    interaction with primary automotive supplier partners. Pro-

    gram educational structure is described in section in “Pro-

    gram structure”.

    Program structure

    The AEP consists of core offerings as a requirement for all

    graduates, and a variety of technical and business offerings

    that allow the student freedom to specialize in certain areas

    while achieving the identified objective outcomes.

    Core classes

    Core education requirements are embodied in a set of base

    courses, covering fundamental skills identified during the

    requirements embodiment phase of program development.

    These primary skill sets imparted by the core class

    requirements are as follows.

    • Project Management for Design and Manufacturing. Pro-

     ject management is an essential skill for ability to operate

    in the automotive design and manufacturing environment;

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    • Overview of Automotive Systems. Students are presented

    with an overview of major automotive systems, their func-

    tions, constituent components and interfaces with the envi-

    ronment. Particularly stressed is functional decomposition

    of systems and a study of the interfaces between systems.

    This study of interfaces and interactions leads directly to

    the concept of systems integration;

    • Systems Integration Concepts and Methods. A criticalexplicit approach to the study of interactions between sys-

    tems and subsystems is undertaken to provide the student

    with foundational knowledge of the effect decisions have

    on the system as a whole. Exemplary case studies are pre-

    sented that embody the integrated nature of the modern

    vehicle;

    • Applied Systems Integration. The concepts learned dur-

    ing the overall course of study are applied in a laboratory

    course, where students are presented with an open-ended

    design problem spanning multiple domains of specializa-

    tion. The emphasis is on global system design optimization

    in an open design space; both vehicle and manufacturingsystems are treated.

    Technical emphasis: track courses

    Technical breadth and depthis introducedto students through

    a number of courses grouped by focus tracks. The tracks and

    current planned courses are given in Table 5.

    Technical track courses in Manufacturing Processes are

    presented on a product platform. Representative automotive

    components and their function are presented as a context for

    manufacturing process selection and analysis. Automation,

    supply chain and intelligent manufacturing concepts are pre-

    sented, and all concepts are reinforced with industry interac-

    tion (tour or in-class discussion).

    Previous treatment of interdisciplinary manufacturing

    instruction with involvement of industry was presented by

    Deisenroth and Mason   (1996) in design of an aerospace

    manufacturing course with the aircraft, its subsystems and

    components as the platform of study. They also integrated

    transition of instruction from a process focus to a manufac-

    turing systems focus, and included cost drivers and manu-

    facturing selection topics for an integrated approach.

    Technical emphasis: function and system approaches

    The Master’s degree professional program has two major

    “stems” or directions of study based on the student inter-

    est and final employment objective. The   Function   stem

    is designed primarily to meet the needs of the automo-

    tive tier 1 and tier 2 suppliers for individuals with knowl-

    edge and skills to integrate two or more technical areas.

    The  System  stem primarily meets the needs of automotive

    OEMs for individuals having knowledge and skills to man-

    Table 5   Technical track courses in the AEP

    T1 vehicle materials and structures mechanics

    AuE 853: Crash analysis methods and crashworthiness

    AuE 855: Structural/thermal analysis methods for

    automotive structure, systems, and components

    AuE 866: Advanced materials for automotive applications

    T2 vehicle electronics, mechatronics and computer systems

    AuE 825: Automotive sensors and actuators

     AuE 826: On board diagnostics and reliability

     AuE 827: Automotive control systems design

    T3 vehicle design and integration, methods and tools

     AuE 846: Tire behavior and its influence on vehicle performance

     AuE 847: Vehicle suspension systems design and analysis

    AuE 848: Vehicle braking systems

    AuE 849: Automotive chassis design

    AuE 875: Vehicle development and realization

    AuE 876: Mass customization design for vehicles

     AuE 877: Light-weight vehicle systems design

    AuE 884: Body and interior designAuE 885: Vehicle layout engineering and ergonomic design

    T4 vehicle manufacturing and production

     AuE 867: Vehicle manufacturing processes I 

     AuE 868: Vehicle manufacturing processes II 

    T5 vehicle performance (vehicle physics)

     AuE 850: Automotive stability and safety systems

    AuE 805: Ground vehicle aerodynamics

    AuE 886: Vehicle noise, vibration and harshness

     AuE 887: Methods for vehicle testing

    T6 vehicle power systems and transmission

     AuE 816: Engine combustion and emissions

    AuE 817: Alternative energy sources

     AuE 828: Fundamentals of vehicle drivelines and power train

    integration

    Courses for tracks T1–T6 that are shown in  italic have been developed

    and taught; others are either in developmentor planned for development

    age and integrate people, technologies, and suppliers at dif-

    ferent stages of the vehicle development/production process

    chain.

    •   Function Stem. The function stem emphasizes technical

    competence in two or three specialization areas as noted

    in the defined technical tracks;

    •   System Stem. The system stem replaces two technical

    track courses with courses chosen from the following:

    AuE 831: New Vehicle Conception, Market and Technol-

    ogy Identification, Concept Validation

    AuE 832: Vehicle Development and Integration Processes,

    Methods and Tools

    AuE 833: Automotive Manufacturing Process Develop-

    ment, Methods and Tools

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    AuE 834: Automotive Production Preparation, Manage-

    ment and Launch

    AuE 835: Vehicle Electronics Integration—A Process

    Chain Perspective

    The objective of Systems-stem courses is to provide the

    students with a more detailed knowledge and experiencesas related to various stages in the vehicle development/ 

    production process chain.

     Business emphasis

    To provide the students with the foundations of business,

    economics, policies etc. as pertinent to the automotive indus-

    try, a requirement of two business courses is imposed. One

    is chosen from a traditional business school offering, while

    a second business course specific to the automotive indus-

    try has been developed through Clemson’s Spiro Center forEntrepreneurial Leadership. This course, titled  Autovation

    is designed to engage graduate-level engineering students

    in emerging trends and technologies in the automotive sec-

    tor. The first semester provides an introduction to emerg-

    ing automotive competition and modern market demands;

    emphasis is placed on the development of economically via-

    ble alternative fuel sources (primarily hydrogen fuel cells).

    The second semester focuses on applying the lessons from

    the first semester; students design products and detailed busi-

    ness plans addressing these issues. Both courses are centered

    around teams of students working to understand and develop

    entrepreneurial skills.This two-course approach requires the student to be

    founded in business concepts while exploring the latest busi-

    ness aspects and considerations within Automotive Engi-

    neering. The curriculum does allow flexibility, so students

    can specialize in a number of traditional business areas while

    being exposed to entrepreneurship and new automotive mar-

    ket developments and trends.

     Incorporation of practical experience to curriculum

    An additional program need identified through industrial

    partner input is graduates with practical experience and

    knowledge. This need is addressedfrom twodirections. First,

    a program requirement of 2years of industry experience is

    imposed. This allows education of the student at a higher

    level of understanding. Common terminology, professional

    relationship ability, and an understanding of the industrial

    environment serve as practical prerequisites for the program.

    A second approach to this need is an underlying theme

    throughout courses of hands-on involvement with equipment

    and systems under study, as well as interaction with indus-

    trial partners through guest speaking, plant tours, internships

    and a required industrial internship.

    Jiles compares curriculum development incorporating

    integrated practical education with the traditional final cap-

    stone project approach, identifying “common deficiencies”

    of traditional graduates as noted by industry   (Jiles et al.

    2002):

    •   poor understanding of manufacturing processes,

    •   a desire for more “high tech” solutions,

    •   lack of design capability,

    •   lack of appreciation for alternatives,

    •   lack of knowledge of value engineering,

    •   lack of appreciation for variation,

    •   poor perception of the overall project engineering pro-

    cess,

    •   narrow view of engineering and related disciplines,

    •   weak communication skills, and

    •   lack of experience working in teams.

    These needs have traditionally been treated by a single “cap-

    stone”course at the endof thecurriculum, an approach which

    has merit but is not effective in preparing students for indus-

    try as these needs increase and new practical needs identified

    (e.g., design of flexible systems). Jiles developed the “VID”

    approach, which parallels that of R&D teams in industry, and

    applies it to a Materials Science curriculum incorporated to

    Nondestructive Evaluation center sponsored by the National

    Science Foundation (NSF).

    Another education area in need of integrated practical

    instruction is process  instrumentation and control.  Amadi-

    Echendu and Higham (1997) describe an approach to curric-

    ulum development in this area, transitioning the technology

    from an “artisan” approach given by employers after hire to

    a more scientific treatment obtained in the educational pro-

    gram. The program collaborates with industry and profes-

    sional society to offer instruction in practical, usable areas.

    Schneider et al. (2005) address the practicality of instruc-

    tion for development of a software engineering curriculum.

    Industry input is solicited specifically from working gradu-

    ates of the curriculum under development to find deficien-

    cies, particularly software training that was required after

    employment. Additionally, soft skill deficiencies were noted

    as shown in Table 6. Though this data is from the software

    industry, it highlights the perception of graduates from pro-

    grams of complex system study as needing additional prac-

    tical training after graduation. This is the same case with

    the complex mechanical, electrical and software systems of 

    the automotive industry, motivating industry-based practical

    input in the curriculum.

    Mativo   (2005) describes curriculum development in a

    materials-based curriculum where the previous practice of 

    highly theoretical instruction was eschewed in favor of a bal-

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    Table 6   Curriculum participant soft skill self-evaluation

    Very little (%) Not much (%) Neutral (%) Much (%) A great deal (%)

    Project management 14 5 38 33 10

    Quality assurance 5 0 19 57 19

    Teamwork 5 0 19 33 43

    Risk management 10 33 33 24 0

    Design 5 19 24 38 14

    Requirements elicitation and documentation 0 5 19 38 38

    Coding 0 0 10 33 57

    Conflict resolution 14 29 38 10 10

    Graduates of a software curriculum generally rated soft skill development in their education program as low, requiring additional development after

    employment

    Fig. 9   Web-based instruction on electro-discharge machining. Current research results are demonstrated graphically, with time-based trend of 

    critical process parameters. This is an on-demand web application (Yao et al. 2005)

    anced approach of theory and practical experience with dif-

    ferent materials in manufacturing. The addition of instruction

    in current software used in industry develops graduates thatenter the workforce with a strong combination of knowledge

    and skill. Tapper (2001) additionally noted the importance of 

    involving industry directly in engineering curriculum devel-

    opment, particularly where laboratory equipment will be

    highly utilized.

    The AEP curriculum developed at Clemson incorporates

    the hands-on “profound” experience described by Tapper,

    with the ability to be flexible to changing technology require-

    ments of industry. Knowledge that is today obtained by

    automotive engineers during their first years of employment

    is instead offered within the graduate curriculum, reducing

    learning time after graduation and making graduates imme-diately more usable to industry.

     Incorporation of parallel research to curriculum

    Research within an academic program is the impetus driving

    new technology development. As new areas of technology

    become increasingly important. It is necessary to begin edu-

    cation of these technologies and methods as they are being

    realized; development of the student and development of the

    technology will run in parallel.

    Yao et al.   (2005) describe an example of this conceptapplied to an integrated research and education program in

    non-traditional manufacturing (NTM) methods. In addition

    to teaching of recent research results, digital technologies

    are also incorporated, both enriching the educational expe-

    rience and disseminating information to a broader audience.

    Examples of web-based technologies incorporated include

    Java applets, Shockwave animations, VRMLanimations, and

    QuickTime movies to demonstrate concepts. The essence of 

    this program is its multidisciplinary nature, covering theinte-

    gration aspects of mechanical, electrical, chemical and bio-

    logical domains. An example of digital instruction materials

    is given in Fig. 9.

    Current state of development

    As of this writing, the Master’s graduate education program

    with 30 students has been realized for three full semesters.

    Additionally, 20 Ph.D. students have been involved for over

    2 years; these students will be the first students to obtain a

    doctoral degree in the field of Automotive Engineering from

    an American university.

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    There are a total of 50 students and 10 full-time fac-

    ulty, and together we occupy the newly-constructed Camp-

    bell Graduate Engineering Center. AuE course plans have

    been vetted through focus groups with industrial partners

    and Mechanical Engineering faculty as described; the first

    year of courses is complete and the next is set to begin. Fur-

    thermore, the faculty focus groups review the offered courses

    in light of the students’ response, which is collected throughwritten student surveys and one on one discussions with the

    program student association. Also, the faculty discuss any

    new additions to the current offerings in light of new gov-

    ernmental regulations, new technologies or changes in the

    industry operating environment.

    The current course offerings focus on four different

    core areas; automotive manufacturing processes and sys-

    tems, vehicle performance, vehicular electronics and auto-

    motive power-train systems and technologies. The courses

    that support these foci are sequenced to couple with the

    core course offerings. The program is expected to gradu-

    ate its first generation masters students in the summer of 2009.

     Industry focus

    There is heavy industrial involvement with the program, not

    only through course development input, but also direct con-

    tributions to courses in the forms of guest lectures, sponsored

    factory tours and in-kind equipment and software donations.

    Additionally, the industrial collaborators provide real-life

    case studies for thestudentsto analyze andpropose solutions;

    such activities include past and current challenges within the

    automotive industry.

    Additionally, an aligned intelligent manufacturing rese-

    arch plan is being carried out with industrially-sponsored

    projects. A number of consortia are also forming around

    the program, including the Clemson University Vehicular

    Electronics Consortium and the newly forming Automotive

    Industrial Partner Consortium, where manufacturers can join

    to drive research directionsand takeadvantage of openresults

    while maintaining intellectual property rights.

    Cultural awareness

    A final aspect of the curriculum unique to an Automo-

    tive Engineering graduate program is a cultural immer-

    sion requirement, whereby every student will be involved

    in a 6-month foreign residence internship with a partner

    company or international government research laboratory.

    While students get practical industrial research experience,

    they are also exposed to international culture and “learn by

    doing” cultural integration within the automotive environ-

    ment. This international internship also entails a language

    requirement, either previouslyspoken or through an intensive

    summer learning program. The cultural education side helps

    the students to operate effectively within a global environ-

    ment through improving their communication skills across

    different cultures and their understanding of the different

    habits and traditions across the world. Plans to improve the

    cultural educational aspect within the program is to incorpo-

    rate a cultural seminar series.

    Comments on curriculum

    The Automotive Engineering graduate curriculum at Clem-

    son University has been designed to incorporate exposure to

    the practical aspects of a career in Automotive Engineering.

    Particularly stressed is the integration of top-down systems-

    level instruction exemplified on practical industrial projects,

    and exposure of students to international cultural experience

    in a technical environment. The curriculum is developed with

    input from OEM and supplier representatives of the automo-

    tive industry, highlighting needs that depart from traditional

    technical instruction, such as business-product relationshipsand interpersonal skills in a multicultural environment.

    Additionally, the role of intelligent systems is included in

    the curriculum design. Digital product design and the inter-

    operability of digital systems in the product development

    process are included in the product realization area. Intelli-

    genttoolsincluded in the manufacturing systems areainclude

    intelligent inspection, information use between inspection

    and manufacturing process, and digital representations of 

    manufacturing processes used for process analysis, planning

    and control.

    Conclusions

    In this paper, we present a critical need for education of sys-

    tems-level thinkers in the global automotive industry, evi-

    denced by the relatively recent transformation of vehicle

    manufacturing from a centralized function to a widely-dis-

    tributed supplier network. The influx of international auto-

    motive makers with a “build where you buy” philosophy has

    increased the need for global and cultural understanding of 

    manufacturing and business processes in the North Amer-

    ican sector. A growing area for automotive manufacturing

    and resultant global technical understanding is in the South-

    east US. This understanding is manifested in the increased

    management and use of information for improving process

    quality and flexibility. The greater availability of this product

    and process knowledge, coupled with the fact that there is a

    decrease in the number of advanced manufacturing gradu-

    ates, has motivated a new program focused on systems-level

    thinking for the global automotive industry.

    The Automotive Engineering Program under development

    at Clemson University—InternationalCenter for Automotive

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    Research is a comprehensive degree program designed under

    the theme of  systems integration, a concept that transcends

    traditional integration studies such a Design for Manufac-

    turing or Functional Decomposition techniques. The new

    era of systems integration focuses on development of the

     Integration Engineer , a graduate that analyzes and makes

    decisions with innate knowledge of those decisions’ effect

    on aligned systems. This skill is applied not only acrossmanufacturing systems integration within design, but also

    functional integration of design as systems become more

    complex, supply chain integration as technical responsibility

    becomes more distributed, and cultural integration as infor-

    mation-enabled collaboration links geographically-disparate

    organizations.

    The contributions that this paper highlights are

    •   The contrast in perceived needs of automotive original

    equipment manufacturers vs. those of suppliers to the

    OEMs. OEM needs were for more technical thinkers able

    to understand the effect of decisions in one domain on theperformance in another. Supplier issues centered mainly

    on need for leadership, interpersonal and communication

    abilities;

    •   Development of a graduate-level program addressing

    both systemic technical issues, and education of technical

    leaders able to function in an interpersonal and intercul-

    tural global automotive environment;

    •   Incorporation of intelligent concepts in manufacturing

    to the curriculum, focused on product development and

    manufacturing systems areas. For product development,

    information from the digital design model is shared to

    dynamic analysis and manufacturing planning functions.

    In the manufacturing systems area, intelligent tools are

    exercised in the areas of inspection design and planning,

    digital process modeling and application to process plan-

    ning and control.

    As evidenced by interviews and interactions with vehicle

    manufacturers and suppliers, this approach is greatly needed

    in today’s automotive manufacturing environment. As vehi-

    cle development and manufacturing becomes more frequent

    with shorter lead times, coupled with increased competitive

    pressures, the understanding, knowledge and use of integra-

    tion techniques will define the automotive technical leaders

    of tomorrow.

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