uncorrected proof J Intell Manuf 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 © Springer Science+Business Media, LLC 2009 Abstract The automotive manufacturing industry has 1 transitioned in the past 20 years from a central technical focus 2 to an integrated and globally distributed supply chain. As car 3 makers outsource not only a greater portion of their manufac- 4 turing, but also their technical design responsibility, a more 5 thorough understanding of both design and manufacturing 6 changes’ effect on total vehicle and total production system 7 performance and cost is critical. The distribution of tech- 8 nical responsibility in automotive manufacturing has moti- 9 vated the development of a specific curriculum in Automotive 10 Engineering at Clemson University in South Carolina, USA, 11 with core focus on the interaction between systems, both 12 in design and manufacturing. In this development, a detailed 13 survey of automotive Original Equipment Manufacturers and 14 major suppliers was carried out. The differences in perceived 15 need between these organization types is explored, and the 16 incorporation of these perceived needs to a new Automotive 17 Engineering curriculum is presented. 18 Keywords ■ 19 Introduction 20 The motor vehicle industry is the largest manufac- 21 turing industry in the United States. No other single 22 industry is linked so much to the US manufacturing 23 sector or directly generates so much retail business 24 L. Mears · M. Omar · T. R. Kurfess (B ) Campbell Graduate Engineering Center, International Center for Automotive Research, Clemson University, 343 Campbell Graduate Engineering Center, 4 Research Drive, Greenville, SC 29607, USA e-mail: kurfess@clemson.edu L. Mears e-mail: mears@clemson.edu and employment. (Center for Automotive Research 25 (Economics and Business Group) 2003) 26 The automotive manufacturing industry has transitioned in 27 the past 20 years from a centralized technical focus to an 28 integrated and globally distributed supply chain. As car 29 makers outsource not only a greater portion of their man- 30 ufacturing, but also technical design responsibility, a more 31 thorough understanding of both design and manufacturing 32 changes’ effect on total vehicle and total production system 33 performance and cost is critical. An understanding of sys- 34 tems integration, or focus on the interfaces between sys- 35 tems, is essential for the future success of automotive 36 manufacturing. 37 The automotive sector specific to the United States is in 38 transition as well. The market for automobiles produced by 39 international manufacturers is increasing, as shown in Fig. 1 40 (Automotive News 2008). 41 International auto makers, employing a “build where they 42 buy” philosophy bring to the manufacturing market new 43 products, methods and cultures that must interface with local 44 labor and suppliers. This cultural level of systems integration 45 presents another dimension of understanding for the interface 46 of systems. 47 Additionally, consideration must be given to the geog- 48 raphy of plant construction and regional trends of automo- 49 tive manufacturing. In the 1990s, the total population of 50 Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, South Carolina, Tennes- 51 see, and Texas (the six southern automobile manufactur- 52 ing states), increased by 7.5 million people or 19.7%, while 53 that of the Northern automobile manufacturing states (Illi- 54 nois, Indiana, Michigan, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin) 55 increased by only 3.6 million people or 7.7% (Hill and 56 Brahmst 2003). In the period from 1998–2001, the number of 57 vehicle registrations in the South Atlantic states increased by 58 123 Journal: 10845-JIMS Article No.: 0329 MS Code: CollabR&D-04 TYPESET DISK LE CP Disp.:2009/10/8 Pages: 16 Layout: Larg Author Proof