Honolulu, Hawaii
June 24, 2007
June 24, 2007
June 27, 2007
2153-5965
Design in Engineering Education
9
12.1091.1 - 12.1091.9
10.18260/1-2--2488
https://peer.asee.org/2488
564
Owen Carlson graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University in April 2007. He speaks Cantonese fluently and lived in Hong Kong from 2001-2003. He worked for BD Medical in product design and manufacturing. Currently he is working for ATL technology as a Global Product Developer.
Mason Webster is a graduate of Brigham Young University with a BS in Mechanical Engineering. He is fluent in Mandarin Chinese and has completed two internships in China at a Lithium-ion battery manufacturing plant. Next year, he plans on attending graduate school to pursue a Master of Business Administration degree.
Dr. C. Greg Jensen is an Associate Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Brigham Young University. He has also worked for Boeing, Lockheed, and United Technologies. His current research interests are in the area of integration, optimization and customization of CAx tools, with a second focus in the direct machining of CAD topology.
Daniel Korth graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mechanical Engineering from Brigham Young University in April 2007. He speaks Spanish fluently and has spent time living in Peru. While at BYU he participated in the development of a prototype unmanned air vehicle and has worked for Honeywell Aerospace in Pheonix, Arizona.
Multinational Design: Keys to Incorporating Multinational Design
Abstract
Design methods and approaches have been developed throughout the past century. These methods draw on the characteristics that design teams are able to communication quickly and effectively. Use of sketches, descriptions, and 3D models further aid the clarification of designs. This paper explores how traditional methods should be applied for global design and the similarities and differences. It also shows the importance of global design training for future engineers and explores a current Senior Design example.
Introduction
Graduating engineers are beginning to see more collaboration with offshore factories than they have before. In the past, most American engineers designed and manufactured exclusively in the US. Today with the inexpensive cost of labor, manufacturing is going overseas. This is not necessarily a good or bad thing, but our future engineers need to have the skills required to thrive in such an environment. As technology advances and communication improves, engineering design occurs around the clock. In essence the world is becoming flat.
Educators must teach current engineering students the skills necessary for global collaboration. There are many intricacies that can only be worked out through experience and Senior Design (Capstone projects) are ideal for practicing the skills demanded by the global market. The real problem of global design comes when the members of the team are not in the same country or speak the same language. How can current design methods that depend so much on clear easy communication be used effectively with global teams? Design methods have only begun to be used on the Global scale. In the past it has been too difficult for teams located around the world to communicate quickly and effectively.
Due to advances in technology this is rapidly changing and will only get easier and faster. Therefore, future engineers need to be well acquainted with technological solutions to current global design problems. Partners for Advancement of Collaborative Engineering (PACE) is sponsoring an initiative to design a Formula One style race car. Northwestern University, University of Texas at El Paso, College for Creative Studies, Brigham Young University, Art Center College of Design, and Prairie View A&M University along with fourteen schools from around the world are participating in this project.
In order to accomplish the challenge given and described more fully in the next section certain applications are being used to accommodate the free flow of concepts and designs. Each school on this project is responsible for a component or assembly that will go into the vehicle. Each team will complete all the analysis and engineering design to make their component work. There were minimal initial constraints, so all of these 20
Carlson, O., & Webster, M., & Jensen, G., & Korth, D. (2007, June), Multinational Design: Keys To Incorporating Multinational Design Paper presented at 2007 Annual Conference & Exposition, Honolulu, Hawaii. 10.18260/1-2--2488
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