MIT
and Cambridge University
to
co-sponsor CMI engineering change
workshops for industry and academia
First
scheduled for April 7-8, 2008 at Trinity
Hall College, Cambridge University,
UK
March
26, 2008
MIT
and Cambridge University are co-sponsoring
two workshops on the topic of “Engineering
Change” during the
spring and fall of 2008.
Most
complex products and systems are designed
by modification from existing products
and systems, both to limit the risk
associated with product innovation
and to reduce the complexity of the
development process. Changes to existing
products are also an integral part
of the life cycle of all design products,
where companies make changes to eradicate
problems with their products, to facilitate
improvement and to respond to evolving
customer needs. New versions are generated
to address the requirements of specific
customers and incorporate new ideas
for new markets where, in each of
these cases, some parts of the products
remain constant while others are modified.
In carrying out such changes companies
are anxious to avoid unnecessary knock-on
effects to other parts of the products,
especially those where the design
is already complete.
Perhaps
surprisingly, while change has long
been recognized as an issue by companies,
academia has only realized its importance
relatively recently and is still developing
the research agenda and theoretical
foundations in the areas of design
for changeability and engineering
change management.
Two
workshops will be held with representatives
from a number of UK and US companies
with two objectives: to bring practitioners
together to discuss current practice,
challenges and tools for identifying
and managing change; and to define
an academic research agenda to address
the needs of industry. The workshops
will focus specifically on engineering
and design change, through a number
of presentations both from industry
and academia which will highlight
current thinking and practice relating
to understanding, managing and exploiting
change. Group discussions will further
investigate these issues and emerging
trends in industry to contribute to
a road-map for future change research.
The
first workshop will be held at Trinity
Hall College in Cambridge, UK on the
7th and 8th of April 2008 with industry
representatives invited from within
the European Union. Companies that
are presenting at the workshop include
BP, Bosch, Perkins, BAE Systems, Volvo,
Rolls Royce and BMW.
The
second workshop will take place at
MIT Endicott House on October 30 and
31, 2008.
The
workshops are organized by Prof. John
Clarkson, Dr. Claudia Eckert and Dr.
Rene Keller at the University of Cambridge
and Prof. Olivier de Weck and Prof.
Richard de Neufville at MIT. Olivier
de Weck, Associate Professor of Aeronautics
and Astronautics and Engineering Systems,
explains that understanding how to
predict, engineer and manage change
is critical to competing successfully,
whether in evolving existing products
and platforms or developing new ones.
Interested companies, faculty, staff,
current students and alumni are welcome
to attend these invitation-only workshops.
These
events are financially supported by
the Cambridge-MIT
Institute (CMI), which was established
in 2000 to explore how academics,
industrialists and educators might
work together to stimulate competitiveness.
For further information or to obtain
information about participation, please
contact either of the following individuals:
Claudia
Eckert; John
Clarkson; Olivier
de Weck; Rene
Keller.
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